FAYETTE — Jefferson County High School head football coach James Herrington said his team has shown improvement in several areas within the past few games, but a new issue has surfaced for his Tigers.

“We only had one turnover in our first two games,” he said. “Then we went to Port Gibson and turned it over five times. It was very uncharacteristic of us.”

Since grabbing their first win against Port Gibson Sept. 6, the Tigers had a bye week last week, giving them two weeks to work on their ball control before heading to McLaurin High School Friday hoping to even their record 2-2.

Herrington said the break was much-needed, and they worked on fundamentals.

“We’ve been working on basic football and making sure they secure the football, and tackling was a big thing,” Herrington said. “We wanted to make sure all of those things are good.”

Though Herrington went back to the basics in practice, he still praised their progress.

“Our defense has been doing an outstanding job,” he said. “We’ve definitely turned it around since we played Natchez High.”

Jefferson County will play at McLaurin at 7 p.m. Friday.

Franklin County High School

MEADVILLE — The Franklin County Bulldogs are riding a two-game winning streak after beating Tylertown 17-14 last week, and head coach Chris Calcote said though they got the win, it was tougher than it should’ve been.

“We didn’t play so well offensively, but our defense stepped up and blocked a couple of punts and a field goal,” Calcote said.

Calcote said defense does win games, but his offense must step up to the challenge when the going gets tough.

“We have to work on our passing game and our special teams,” he said. “Our offensive line has to block better, and we have to run sharper routes.

“We’re going to do some teaching on our offensive game plans.”

Calcote said he also saw problems with his linemen when his team kicks field goals, and though it hasn’t been too much of an issue now, he said a team like South Pike will dismantle their field-goal attempts if they don’t tighten up their front.

“They’re very talented, and it’ll be a challenge for us to win,” Calcote said. “If we don’t go into the game and really play, we’ll have a problem.”

Franklin County will host South Pike at 7 p.m. Friday.

Wilkinson County High School

WOODVILLE — Though Wilkinson County head coach Kenneth Brown has no knowledge of the South Plaquemines team they’re up against Friday, he said the most important thing is that they work on themselves.

“We’re going back to the basic stuff, because we don’t have any film on them, so we don’t know how to prepare for them,” Brown said. “We just have to work on our mistakes.”

With a 3-1 start on a tough pre-district schedule, Brown said he is confident in the direction his team is headed regardless of playing a team they’ve never seen before.

“I think the season is not bad,” he said. “I think we’re successful, but we have to build on it.”

Despite their early success, Brown said the season will only get tougher, and they must correct everything that they’re capable of correcting.

“We’re hoping to get people in better position on the field,” Brown said. “We’re working on our schemes with our offensive lineman as well.”

Wilkinson County will host South Plaquemines at 7 p.m. Friday.