Ferriday — The Ferriday High School Trojans have one last chance to make some noise as their 3-7 record, 1-4 in district play, still allows them to participate in the LHSAA Class 2A playoffs.

And with one more chance to revive their season comes a chance to get even with Oak Grove High School, Ferriday’s opponent Friday. The Trojans fell to Oak Grove in Week 9, 50-32.

Head coach Cleothis Cummings said his players will be playing with a chip on their shoulders and an extra incentive to beat Oak Grove.

“We’re looking at one of those games that we should have had,” Cummings said. “When we played them last time, we had so many turnovers and mental breakdowns in the game, but moving on from that, we’ve gotten better.”

After tanking six straight games, including once to Oak Grove, things have started to look up for the Trojans after last week’s 28-20 win against General Trass High School out of Lake Providence.

Cummings said they needed that tiny spark of life before starting their tough journey through the playoffs.

“We came out pretty focused,” he said. “The defense played really good, but we were struggling getting the ball in the end zone. We came to life in the second quarter, and we were able to move the ball, but the mental aspect of the game got us with penalties and put us in bad field position.”

Though they ended their regular season on a high note, Cummings said that leg of the season is over now, and they must focus on making a deep push into the playoffs.

“We just turn the page and put the record behind us,” he said.

Cummings said senior quarterback Shannon Morales has stepped up to the challenge after Cummings has called him out on his past performances and leadership.

“Against Jonesboro (High School) he played a pretty solid game, and he may have had one turnover, but the thing was he still played a solid game going into Lake Providence,” Cummings said. “He played a complete game with no turnovers (against General Trass), and he even scored on a rushing play. He has even started to practice like a veteran athlete should. He’s in charge offensively, and the guys feed off of his emotion.”

Ferriday will play Oak Grove at 7 p.m. Friday in Round One of the LHSAA Class AA playoffs.