The Brookhaven Academy Cougars and the Copiah Academy Colonelsbegin MPSA state AA playoff action Friday night. District 4 champBrookhaven entertains Oak Forest, La. at R.M. “Red” Stuard Fieldand defending state champ Copiah invades Prairie View, La. Gametime is 7 p.m.

Last Friday, Brookhaven smacked Manchester 36-14 in its finalgame of the regular season.

Cougar senior Corey Dickerson led the running game with 7carries for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. Daniel Lofton followed with71 yards on 13 carries and a TD. Dickerson also returned anintercepted pass for a 74-yard touchdown.

In the air, Lofton completed 3 of 4 passes for 42 yards and atouchdowns.

The Brookhaven defense got 10 tackles from DAILY LEADERDefensive Player of the Week Jeremy James.

Brookhaven Academy knows Oak Forest very well. The YellowJackets stung the Cougars 18-12 in double overtime on Aug. 31. Itwas the second game of the season for both teams.

“Oak Forest run a lot of option,” said Brookhaven Academy headfootball coach Bo Milton about the rematch. “They are throwing theball a lot more. You have to be balanced.

“We’re going to have to play a good ball game this time,”continued Milton. “We can’t have bad snaps. We can’t give up anybig plays. We have to play consistent. We are a little bit betteron offense.”

Milton said standout junior fullback/linebacker Kolby Byrd saw alittle bit of playing time last week. Byrd has missed the previousweek’s game due to a leg injury.

Starting for Brookhaven on offense are Lofton at quarterback;Byrd at fullback; Dickerson and Jonathan White at slot back; TripJolly and James at split end; Patrick Wallace at left tackle;Garrett Posey at left guard; Caleb Williams at center; Will Gatlinat right guard and Caleb Covington at left tackle.

The defensive starters for the Cougars include Patrick Wallaceat defensive tackle; Reid Smith at noseguard; Gatlin at defensiveend; Steven Watts, Nathanael Sbravati, Byrd, Austin Barnett andJames at linebacker. Dickerson and White are cornerbacks. Freesafety is Daniel Lofton.

“We’re happy to host,” added Milton. “We hope to keep the seasongoing. It’s going to be a big crowd. It’s a great atmosphere for aplayoff game.”

The Copiah Colonels (10-1, 3-1) face a longroad trip to Bastrop, La., to meet the Prairie View Spartans (9-2,3-1). Copiah is under the direction of first-year head coach ScottyCline. Prairie View is coached by Mike Hinton.

Last week, Copiah clipped Presbyterian Christian School 17-14 inovertime and Prairie View hammered Glenbrook, La., 36-8.

“Prairie View is a big football team,” explained Cline. ‘They’revery well coached. Their running back topped 1900 yards last week.They are going to line up and run it right at you. We are going tohave to be physical. We are going to have to play our best. They’reone of the top 3 teams in the bracket.

“The Spartans fly to the football,” added Cline.”They hit you.It’s a tough game to play on the road. Prairie View hasn’t been inthe playoff s in 8 years. The place will be rocking downthere.”

In the win over PCS, Copiah quarterback Daniel Sims connectedwith wide receiver Hunter Greer for 13 and 99-yard touchdownstrikes. Richard Henley nailed the game-winning 25-yard field goaland a pair of extra point kicks.

The leading rusher for Copiah is Brandon Greer with 109 carriesfor 610 yards and 5 touchdowns. Ben Boone follows with 64 rushesfor 384 yards and 5 touchdowns.

On the season, Sims has completed 116 of 227 passes for 1,904yards and 18 touchdowns. The top receivers are Hunter Greer with 46catches for 963 yards and 8 touchdowns. Brandon Greer follows with27 catches for 315 yards and 6 touchdowns. Bryce Guess has caught17 passes for 372 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Copiah starting offense features Daniel Sims at quarterback,Ben Boone at tailback and Brandon Greer at fullback. The offensiveline includes Matthew Wright at left tackle, Bryce Sharp at leftguard, Rob Pyron at center, Gary Strong at right guard and DustinMerchant at right tackle. Working at tight end are Alex Guess andBryce Guess. Hunter Greer and Timothy Hall are at widereceiver.

The Colonels starting defense features Merchant and Jeremy Greerat ends. The tackles are Colin Gentry and Pyron. Starting atlinebacker are Alex Guess. Wright, Bryce Guess and Brandon Greer.Timothy Hallman is at safety. The cornerbacks are Ben Boone andHunter Greer.

On defense, Alex Guess leads the Colonels with 83 tackles (15for losses), 3/4 fumbles, a blocked kick, 3 sacks and 5 passesinterceptions, scoring 1 for a TD. Bryce Guess followed with 50tackles, a sack and 4 pass breakups. Hunter Greer has 7 passinterceptions followed by Boone with 4 thefts.