The Lawrence County Cougars invade Picayune Friday night to meetthe Maroon Tide in the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A statefootball playoffs. The game begins at 7 p.m.

Class 3A games being played include Morton at Franklin County,Ripley at Lexington McClain, Charleston at Louisville, Byhalia atAberdeen, Velma Jackson at Corinth, Newton County at Perry Central,Raleigh at Purvis and Magee at Tylertown.

Lawrence County (10-1) was the No. 2 seed out of the Region 6-4A.Last Friday, head coach Mike Davis’ Cougars eliminated theNortheast Lauderdale Trojans 35-7 in first-round playoffaction.

Picayune (9-1) comes into the game as the top seed out of Region 8.The Maroon Tide’s knocked off the Gautier Gators 34-31 lastweek.

“Picayune is a quick, scrappy bunch,” said Davis. “They arehard-nosed kids that fly to the football. They swarm and gangtackle. They run a split 4 for the most part. Theie oefensive lineis awful quick with two linebackers that are always around theball. And they have a lot speed in the secondary.

“We’re looking forward to going down there” added Davis. “We lookforward to the challenge. “

LCHS defensive coordinator Jay Livingston talked about the MaroonTide offense.

“Picayune lines up and pounds it at you. They have 2 really goodrunning backs that can take it all the way. Their offensive linewill get after it. They are a hard-nosed bunch. They will bring itevery play.

“We have to be ready,” continued Livingston. “They are real sound.They’ll hit you on the play action pass. We have to get after it.We have to bring our best game.”

In the win over NE Lauderdale, Kendrick Hardy was the leadingrusher with 16 carries for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns. Josh Cameroncarried 12 times for 88 yards. Following with 11 rushes for 110yards was Isaiah Ferdinand.

Powering the Cougar defense was defensive end Randy Sims with 13solo tackles and 3 sacks.

Starting on the Lawrence County offensive line are Trey Harvey atcenter, 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 Mathew Wells in the backfield.Carlton Parkman and Jarod McCarthy play up front.

Working on the Cougar defensive line are Cornelius Sibley at end,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.