From staff reports

Tallulah Academy’s injury report this week reads more like the team’s roster.

The team not only suffered a 42-14 loss to No. 3 Trinity Episcopal last week, it had five starters injured. Among the wounded were leading rusher Justin Horath, quarterback Jes Shivers, lineman Daniel Frith and receiver Wade Walker.

“It’s a long list. We’re definitely going to be without Justin Horath. He’s got a dislocated shoulder,” Tallulah coach Doug Branning said. Horath had back-to-back 190 yard games before being injured early against Trinity. “It was tough. We were struggling to get people on the field. Sometimes it just happens in bunches like that.”

The injuries come at a particularly bad time for Tallulah, which hosts District 6-A co-leader Huntington (5-2, 5-0) tonight. Tallulah (4-3, 4-2) is still among the leaders for one of two wild-card berths in the South half of the MPSA Class A playoff bracket, but needs a few wins down the stretch to secure its standing.

“It’s every week you deal with it,” Branning said of the injuries. “There is no good time. But everybody deals with it.”

Central Hinds at Prairie View

Early in the year, Central Hinds coach Bobby Allen might have chalked up tonight’s game at Prairie View as an easy win. Now, he’s not so sure.

Prairie View (1-5) has gotten several transfers from nearby Oak Grove High School in Louisiana, and increased the size of its offensive and defensive lines nearly 100 pounds per man in the process. That has the Cougars playing the underdog role, Allen said.

“We can win, there’s no doubt. It would be an upset, but we can do it. We have the speed to play with them,” Allen said. “We’re as ready as you can be going over to play LSU.”

Tonight’s game falls on the schedule between a pair of crucial District 5-A games for Central Hinds, and may end up being just as important. CHA (4-3) put itself in position to finish second in the district with a 10-0 win over Benton last week, and faces undefeated and fifth-ranked Porters Chapel for the district title next week. A win tonight against Class AA Prairie View would give Central Hinds some extra power points toward a wild-card berth if they slip up down the stretch.

Deer Creek at Briarfield

Briarfield enters tonight’s home district game against Deer Creek sitting in fourth place in the MPSA’s North power point rankings. A win over the Warriors (4-3, 3-1) would go a long way to solidifying a home playoff match-up in the the first round for the Rebels (5-2, 4-1).

“Strider, Desoto and Marvell are ahead of us but Desoto and Marvell play each other this week, so there’s a chance we can move up if we beat Deer Creek. We need to come out and get a win and we can do that by being physical,” Briarfield coach Ben Durham said.

The Rebels bounced back from a 61-29 loss to AA power Trinity Episcopal two weeks ago with a 41-6 win over Central Holmes last week in Lexington.

“Actually, I thought we had some positives against Trinity. We doubled up the amount of points they had given up all year and they had to keep their starters in to near the end when it finally got out of hand. It was 21-21 at the half,” Durham said.

Bayou at Sharkey-Issaquena

The Confederates’ (1-6) second chance at a second win comes tonight in Rolling Fork when the Colts (1-6) visit. Bayou is down big after reaching the Academy A championship game last season behind Mississippi State baseball signee Caleb Reed. SIA played Greenville Christian well before falling, 27-6 last week.

South Delta at O’Bannon

The Bulldogs (4-2, 1-0) won their Region 4-2A opener last week and now head to Greenville O’Bannon.

Madison Parish at Rayville

The Jaguars (0-5) missed a chance at a win last week when rival Lake Providence pounded them 34-13. Madison has been outscored 169-33 in five games and now the meat of the schedule arrives, beginning with 3A power Rayville.

McComb at Port Gibson

Winless Port Gibson (0-6) hosts a McComb team tonight that seems to have found a groove in recent weeks.

After scoring six points in its first three games, McComb (1-5) has scored at least 26 in each of its last three. McComb has allowed at least 28 points in each of its first five games before last week’s 26-7 win over North Pike.