We're down to 24 teams in MHSAA football, with North State and South State championship games in all six classes on tap for Friday and four defending champions still playing. Championships games are scheduled for December 4 and 5 at Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson. Championship games were played at Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Mississippi the last six years, and were scheduled for MSU this year. But the Bulldogs have a home game Dec. 5 after reworking its schedule and the other two schools might play games that date so championship games will return to the former long time site of Mississippi Memorial Stadium. The schedule for Friday, Dec. 4 begins at 11 a.m. with the Class 3A game, followed by Class 1A at 3 p.m. and Class 6A at 7 p.m. The action for Saturday, Dec. 5 begins at 11 a.m. with the Class 4A title game, followed by class 2A at 3 p.m. and Class 5A at 7 p.m. Here is a breakdown of the each classification: CLASS 4A Itawamba AHS (8-3) visits Louisville (11-1) in North State, while South State has Mendenhall (7-5) raveling to Poplarville (9-3). Last week’s scores were: Itawamba AHS 23, Corinth 18; Louisville 28, Pontotoc 7; Poplarville 62, North Pike 6; and Mendenhall 24, Sumrall 19. Jace Hudspeth passed for 191 yards and two TDs and Jacorey Coleman ran for 130 yards in Louisville’s victory over Pontotoc. Itawamba knocked off defending 4A champion Corinth, avenging a third-round loss last year. Poplarville scored 62 points in the playoffs for the second time in the victory over North Pike. The Hornets were runner-up to Corinth last year. Mendenhall lost five of its first six games, but has won six in a row, including the victory over Sumrall on a five-yard pass from D.K. Jenkins to Jacob Martin in the final minute. CLASS 1A In a battle of undefeated teams Nanih Waiya (11-0) hosts Biggersville (12-0) for North State, while Hollandale Simmons (8-1) visits Lumberton (10-1) for South State. Last week’s scores were: Biggersville 32, Tupelo Christian 17; Nanih Waiya 36, Baldwyn 3 ; Simmons 56, Sebastopol 26; and Lumberton 34, Stringer 6 Biggersville is the state’s highest coring team, averaging 51.2 per game, but will be going up against a Nanih Waiya defense that has allowed only 11 points to two playoff opponents. Nanih Waiya is the two-time defending 1A Champion , but will move up to 2A next year. The Warriors and Lions have played three common opponents. Nanih Waiya defeated West Lowndes 39-24, Tupelo Christian 41-33 and Baldwyn 36-3, while Biggersville beat Tupelo Christian twice, 46-21 and 32-17, Baldwyn 40-13 and West Lowndes 36-14. Simmons almost didn’t play football this year. The school opted out of fall sports due to the pandemic, then opted back in midway through the season. Lumberton, 2019 runner-up, is led by 1A Mr. Football Robert Henry who has carried 113 times for 1,440 yards (12.7 average) and 21 TDs. CLASS 3A Two outstanding games are on tap in 3A with Winona (11-1) visiting Noxubee County (9-1) for North State, and Columbia (10-2) traveling to Magee (10-0) For South State. Last week’s scores were: Noxubee County 39, North Panola 14; Winona 45, Amory 35; Magee 35, Raleigh 0; and Columbia 18, West Marion 13. The North State final will be a battle of Tigers. Winona has scored 145 points in three playoff games. Noxubee, 3A runner-up a year ago, has outscored its three playoff opponents 125-28. The only loss for both teams came against larger schools, Winona against Madison Central and Noxubee against West Point. Magee and Columbia were supposed to play the final regular season game Oct. 30, but Columbia had to forfeit. Magee senior quarterback Chandler Pittman has thrown nine TD passes in three playoff games. Columbia lost a regular season overtime game to county rival West Marion, but won the rematch with a last minute TD. CLASS 6A Oxford (11-0) visits Clinton (10-2) for North State while Northwest Rankin (9-3) heads to Oak Grove (11-0) for South State. Last week’s scores were: Oxford 41, Hernando 26; Clinton 18, Warren Central 14; Oak Grove 41, Harrison Central 14; and Northwest Rankin 29, D'Iberville 28 Oxford is the defending champion, having beaten Oak Grove in last year's title game. Oxford is led by junior quarterback Michael Harvey, who has passed for 947 yards and two touchdowns. Senior quarterback Caleb Miller has totaled 1,156 yards and 2 touchdowns running and passing for Clinton. South State will be a rematch of a November 6 game won by Oak Grove 56-30 when Warrior quarterback Kabe Barnett completed 14 of 15 passes for 199 yards and four TDs and ran for 100 yards. Senior quarterback Caleb Parten has passed for 2,028 yards and 19 TDs for Northwest Rankin. CLASS 5A Four-time defending champion West Point (10-3) visits Ridgeland (10-2) for North State in Class 5A, while South State has West Jones (11-2) visiting Pascagoula (8-4). Last week’s scores were: West Point 28, Grenada 14; Ridgeland 32, Neshoba Central 29; West Jones 42, Laurel 21; and Pascagoula 35, Hattiesburg 32 West Point is going for a fifth consecutive state title while Ridgeland will attempt to reach the championship game for the first time. West Jones lost to Laurel 19-13 October 16, but defeated the county rival in the playoffs to reach the South State final for the third straight year. In Pascagoula’s victory over Hattiesburg, Caden Chisolm booted a field goal in the final minute of regulation time to force overtime, and another field goal in overtime for the victory. CLASS 2A East Union (10-1) visits Calhoun City (9-2) for North State, while Enterprise makes the trip (10-1) to Taylorsville (12-1) for South State. Last week’s scores were: East Union 26, North Side 22; Calhoun City 30, East Webster 15; Taylorsville 65, Union 37; and Enterprise 21, Scott Central 14. East Union trailed North Side 22-6 through three quarters, but rallied to win with three fourth period touchdowns. Calhoun Coty started 0-2 with losses to strong 3A schools Choctaw County and North Panola, but has reeled off nine straight wins, including East Webster twice. Taylorsville is seeking a second straight championship, and third in four years, behind prolific quarterback Ty Keyes, before dropping down to 1A next year. In four years, Keyes has thrown for 14,238 yards and 151 TDs. Enterprise’s only loss was 33-28 to Taylorsville October 16 despite running for 385 yards. The Bulldogs average more than 300 yards a game on the ground.
