The Lawrence County Cougars get a brief break from Region 6-4Aplay and travel to Fayette to battle the Region 7-3A JeffersonCounty Tigers Friday night. The game begins at 7 p.m.

In other area football action, South Pike visits FranklinCounty, McComb invades Mendenhall, Wilkinson County travels toNorth Pike, Hazlehurst is at Richland and Crystal Springs is atJackson Bailey.

Tonight, Wesson hosts Hinds AHS for a key Region 6-2A test inStone Stadium on the Co-Lin campus.

The Lawrence County Cougars bounced back from a loss 2 weeks agoto stuff the Mendenhall Tigers 40-20 in a key Region 6-4A matchuplast Friday. Two weeks earlier, Lawrence County’s undefeated winstreak was stopped by Brookhaven in a 43-32 loss.

With the win, Coach Mike Davis’ Cougars improved to 3-1 in theregion and 6-1 overall. Jefferson County, who knocked offpreviously unbeaten Tylertown 32-12 last week, comes into this gamewith a 6-1 record on the season. In Region 7-3A play, JeffersonCounty is 3-1.

“Jefferson County is a passing team,” said Davis. “Theirquarterback, Percy Turner (6-1, 185), is one of the top in thestate. Turner is very poised. He has 22 touchdowns on the seasonand has four receivers that can catch the ball.

“Their defense is giving up less that 2 TDs a game. They’re oneof the top 3A teams in the state right now. Jefferson County hasbeaten Natchez, Franklin County and Tylertown.”

The Lawrence County offense was led by Kendrick Hardy with 20carries for 284 yards and 4 touchdowns in the win over Mendenhall.Isiah Ferdinand followed with 14 rushes for 121 yards. Josh Cameronfinished with 7 carries for 60 yards.

Senior guard Martez Bryant, wearing jersey No. 64, was the onlyreturning starter on the LCHS offensive line. Former reserves havestepped up and made the line a successful unit.

“Our kids responded well last week at Mendenhall,” added Davis.”We are going to have to to pick it up on our pass defense andpressure the quarterback.”

Franklin County roared back to the win columnafter two weeks of losses. Last Friday, the Meadville-baseedBulldogs mauled the North Pike Jaguars 38-7 in Region 7-3Aaction.

With the victory, Franklin County improved to 5-2 on the seasonand 1-2 in region play. Coach Grady McCluskey coaches theBulldogs.

South Pike, coached by Randall Huffman, had an open date lastweek. The Magnolia-based Eagles are 4-2 on the season and remain3-0 in region action.

In the win over North Pike, junior quarterback Jamie Collinsfinished with 8 rushes for 120 yards and scored a pair oftouchdowns. On defense at strong safety, Collins had a passinterception.

The Bulldog defense was led by linebacker Carlos Johnson with 12tackles and deflected a pass. Collecting 7 tackles each were Bo andJarvis Tillman.

In last year’s game, Franklin County beat South Pike 21-14.

McComb picked up a big 38-6 Region 6-4A winPort Gibson last week. The Tigers, coached by Randy Martin, visitregion rival Mendenhall for a matchup with another set of Tigers.McComb stands 4-3 overall and 1-2 in region action.

Mendenhall was dumped 40-20 by Lawrence County last Friday. Thehost Tigers are 1-3 in the region and 1-6 overall.

Last season, McComb punished Mendenhall 49-6.

North Pike tries to get back in the win columnwhen the Jaguars host the Region 7-3A Wilkinson County Wildcats.Wilkinson County (1-6, 0-3) was hammered 69-14 by Amite County lastFriday.

North Pike, under first-year head coach Chris Smith, is 1-2 inregion play and 1-6 on the season.

In last year’s game, Wilkinson County pounded North Pike34-6.

Hazlehurst stopped Magee in a Region 6-3A testlast Friday. Coached by Vernon Perry, the Indians improved to 3-0in the region and 3-4 on the season.

Hazlehurst is at Richland for a region game. The host Rangersshut out the Crystal Springs Tigers 14-0 last week. Richland pusheditsregion worksheet to 2-1 and overall record to 4-3.

Last season, Richland whipped Hazlehurst 68-26.

Crystal Springs looks to bounce back from lastFriday’s loss to Richland when the Tigers visit the Bailey SchoolKnights at Jackson.

Last week, Bailey was whipped 58-12 by Florence.

The visiting Tigers, coached by David Virgil, are 2-5 on theseason and 1-3 in Region 6-3A play.