The Wesson Cobras and the Lawrence County Cougars will hostfirst round games in the state football playoffs. Wesson entertainsScott Central in 2A play and Lawrence County hosts NortheastLauderdale in 4A. Game times are 7 p.m.

In other first-round playoff action, Franklin County invadesSumrall, McComb visits Northeast Jones, Purvis travels to SouthPike, Morton is at Hazlehurst and Crystal Springs invades NewtonCounty.

Wesson (8-1, 5-1) faces a tough foe in theScott Central Rebels (6-3, 4-2). Coach Tommy Clopton’s Cobras arethe No. 2 seed out of Region 6-2A.

Wesson had an open date last week. Two weeks ago, the Cobrasposted a 21-14 win in overtime at McLaurin.

“Scott Central may be the best team in their district at thistime of the year,” explained Clopton. “They are playing as well asanybody. Two of their three losses were by three points orless.

“They’re very fast,” continued Clopton. “They’re not very big.They run the wing-T on offense and a 50 on defense. They areplaying really well.”

In the win over McLaurin, senior Roy Williams powered Wessonwith 12 rushes for 77 yards. Jeromy Smith carried 13 times for 61yards and a touchdowns. Cobra quarterback John Craft hit JaredMcManus for a 34-yard TD. Rushing for 45 yards on 13 carries andscoring a touchdown was Chris Fink.

Williams has 194 carries for 928 yards and 11 touchdowns. JeromySmith rushed 125 times for 669 yards and 7 TDs. Craft completed 10of 26 passes for 250 yards and 2 TDs with 3 interceptions.

On defense, linebacker Beau Wilson directed Wesson with 12tackles. Making 9 stops each were Michael Box and Craft.

Captaining the Wesson offense is John Craft at quarterback. RoyWilliams starts at fullback. Jeromy Smith is tailback. JeremyMcManus is tight end. Matthew Cliburn is split end. and Chris Finkis flanker. The offensive line includes tackles Dominique Johnsonand Brady Knight. Zach Williams and Beau Wilson are the guards. Thecenter is Matt Smith.

Playing on the 4-man defensive Cobra front are Zach Williams andGrace at ends. The tackles are Clayton Allen and Johnson. Thelinebackers are Roy Williams, Wilson, Terry Henson and Cliburn. Thedefensive backs are Craft, Box and Kyle Cross.

“It is a big ball game obviously,” added Clopton. “We’ve been inplayoffs the last two years. We are trying to get past the firstround hump. We look forward to being in front of our fans.”

Lawrence County (9-1, 5-1) entertains NortheastLauderdale (6-4, 4-2) for first-round 4A action. The Meridian-basedTrojans put away Quitman 21-6 last Friday while the Cougars shutout the Port Gibson Blue Waves 68-0.

“NE Lauderdale beat Laurel and Wayne County; that says a lotabout them,” said Lawrence County head coach Mike Davis. “Theypredominantly run the football. They like to spread in a shotgunset. Their quarterback is a young kid. They have a big bruisingtailback.

“Defensively, they are a split 4 team,” added Davis. “They arepretty big and physical. They run to the ball well. They limitedWayne County to 13 points and won it 17-13.”

According to Davis, Kendrick Hardy leads the Cougars rushingoffense with 1600 yards. Isiah Ferdinand has 700 yards followed byJosh Cameron with over 600 yards. Mathew Wells has around 600yards.

Starting on the Lawrence County offensive line are Trey Harveyat center, Joshua Magee at right guard, Monterio Taylor at righttackle, Blake Stallings at right tight end, Martez Bryant at leftguard, Carlton Harris at left tackle and Brandon Middlebrook atleft tight end. In the backfield, the starting quarterback is AdamWatson. Hardy is the fullback. The running backs are Ferdinand andCameron. Also seeing action is Wells in the backfield. CarltonParkman and Jarod McCarthy who play up front.

Working on the Cougar defensive line are Cornelius Sibley atend, Randy Sims and Jared McCarthy at tackle, Dontravian Mikell atguard. The linebackers include Dontray Collins, Julius Magee andHardy. The strong safety is Curtis Carr. Working as free safety isMiles Hill. Cornerbacks are Ferdinand and Wells.

“We have been improving the last couple of games,” saiddefensive coach Jay Livingston. “We stressed getting better. Theyhave taken some good steps toward that. We’re improving.”

Franklin County (8-2, 4-2) travels to Sumrall(5-5, 4-2) for its first Class 3 A playoff game. The defendingstate champ Bulldogs, coached by Grady McCluskey, secured a berthin the playoffs last Friday with a 34-14 victory over AmiteCounty.

Alan Hunt and Jordan Hunt scored 2 touchdowns each in the winover Amite County.

On defense, Ajoshua Tillman led the Bulldogs with 12 tackles anda sack. Alex Smith intercepted a pair of passes.

McComb (7-3, 4-2) visits Northeast Jones (8-2,4-2) in 4A action.

Coach Randy Martin’s Tigers were 46-18 winners over Forest Hilllast Friday. Northeast Jones hammered Cleveland 41-21.

South Pike (6-3, 5-1) entertains Purvis (5-5,3-3) in 3A action. The Magnolia-based Eagles, coached by RandallHuffman, nipped Pike County rival North Pike 16-13 last week.

Hazlehurst (5-5, 5-1) hosts Morton (5-5, 3-3)in a battle of 3A squads. The Indians, who lost their first 4 gamesof the season, came back to win the next 5 games before being upsetby Copiah County rival Crystal Springs 14-9 last Friday.

Vernon Perry coaches Hazlehurst.

Crystal Springs (4-6, 3-3) invades NewtonCounty (9-1, 6-0) in 3A. David Virgil coaches the Tigers. Lastweek, Newton County stuffed Morton 35-6.