The Brookhaven Academy Cougars are one game away from making areturn trip to the MAIS Class AA State Championship game on HarperDavis Field at Millsaps College in Jackson. Standing in the way forthe second year in a row are the River Oaks Mustangs of Monroe, La,who invade R.M. “Red” Stuard Field Friday in the South StateChampionship Game.

The contest kicks off at 7 p.m.

Brookhaven Academy (12-1) eliminated the Cenla Christian AcademyLions 50-18 in last Friday’s second round game. River Oaks (11-1)is coming off a tough 21-13 win over the Centreville Academy Tigerslast week.

In the North AA finals, Leake Academy (10-2) battles North Delta(10-1) in Batesville. Last week, Leake edged Winston Academy 23-21and North Delta was a 28-17 winner over Simpson Academy.

BA head coach Herbert Davis has watched film on River Oaks andtalked about this week’s opponent.

“River Oaks has a lot of speed,” said Davis. “It will a hugechallenge for us to contain their running back No. 9 (TeshadiTalton). He is the real deal. We have not faced speed like thissince we faced Natchez Trinity.

“Overall, we are excited to be playing for another chance at theSouth State championship, continued Davis. “We hope to advance foranother shot at the State Championship in Jackson.”

Davis commented on what he thinks his team should do to besuccessful in this big game. “We need to execute offensively bydoing the things we need to do and protect the ball. Defensively,we need to put ourselves in position to tackle their runningbacks.”

Leading Coach Robert Hannah’s Mustangs over Centreville Academylast Friday was Talton, who scored two touchdowns on runs of 40 and14 yards. Sophomore running back Alex Biedenharn scored on athree-yard run.

Key players for River Oaks: Junior quarterback Ryan MacGregor hascompleted 63 of 108 passes for 1,203 yards for the season. Runningbacks: Talton has rushed 62 times for 734 yards. Alex Biedenharnhas carried the ball 39 times for 576 yards. Henry Biedenharn has49 carries for 460 yards. Wide receivers: Walker Thurmon has caught16 passes for 274 yards. Joseph Hakim has caught 13 passes for 245yards

Defensively, junior linebacker Davis Harris averages 8 tackles pergame. Seth Lawrence averages 6 tackles. Darryl Barnes and AaronRogers provide 5 tackles per game.

Key players for BA: Senior quarterback Chandler Rogers hascompleted 155 of 255 passes for 2,865 yards and scored 29touchdowns. He has rushed 100 times for 671 yards and 17 TDs.

Rogers has accounted for 129 touchdowns during his career, secondonly to St. Stanislaus quarterback Dylan Favre. He passed formerShannon High School and Ole Miss standout quarterback RomaroMiller, who holds third place with 127 scores.

Running backs: Jennings Mills has 74 carries for 681 yards.Freshmen Landon Nettles has rushed 50 times for 471 yards.Christian (Bubba) Keene leads all receivers for the season with 64catches for 1,172 yards. Sidney Chaffin has 31 catches for 723yards. Mills has caught 34 passes for 614 yards.

Defensively, Alan Michael Allred and Bailey Hodge average 10 tackleper game to lead the Cougars defense. Mark Rushing averages 9tackles. Jeff Rushing averages 8 tackles.

Coach Davis revealed his starting lineup for Friday’s matchup.Starting on offense for the Cougars at quarterback is Rogers.Running back is Nettles. Wide receivers are Keene and Chaffin.Other receivers are Mark Rushing and Mills

On the line, the right tackle is Caleb Dunaway. Right guard is KenBritt and the center is Hunter Franklin or Colby Culbertson. Theleft guard is Cameron Barry and the left tackle is Allred.

The BA defense features C. J. Duckworth, Franklin and Culbertson atend and Barry and Britt at tackle. Cody Henley, Hodge and Allred atlinebackers. In the secondary are Jeff Rushing, Mark Rushing, GagePosey, Keene and Mills.

Tyler Trout serves as the Cougars’ kicker.

In the win over Cenla Christian Academy, Rogers torched the Lionsin limited action, completing 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 386yards and four touchdowns. He also added another score on theground. Mills was the leading receiver, catching 6 passes for 140yards with two TDs. Keene caught 3 passes for 99 yards.

On defense, Allred led the Cougars with 16 tackles and a fumblerecovery. Jeff Rushing followed with 11 tackles and Duckworth added10 stops in support.

In a rematch from last year’s game, Brookhaven Academy defeatedRiver Oaks 17-7 on R.M. “Red” Stuard Field to capture the South AAState Championship.