It’s not that the Jefferson County Tigers don’t know how to act at this point.

It’s more that Tigers aren’t finished what they plan on doing. After being picked to finish in the cellar of Region 7-3A this season, they’re off to a 3-0 start this season and appear to have plenty of momentum heading into tonight’s contest at Amite County as region play begins.

The Tigers disposed of Velma Jackson on the road last week after opening the season with wins over Crystal Springs and Yazoo City.

&uot;We’re excited about playing, and we’re just trying to continue &045; that’s just about it,&uot; JC head coach Jeffrey Harness said. &uot;(Friday night) was a big win for us, but it was just another win. We’ve got a tough club ahead of us this week.&uot;

The upstart Tigers further set the stage for what is shaping up to be an interesting run through the region. Long being dominated by Wilkinson County, the region was tight down to the wire last year and could be even tighter this year with the addition of Port Gibson and an experienced Hazlehurst club, a team that’s the favorite to come out on top.

&uot;It seems like there’s pretty good parity in the district,&uot; Wilkinson County head coach John Moore said. &uot;No dominant team has really shown up yet. It looks like it’s kind of up in the air. They (Hazlehurst) return the running backs they had, but I think they lost a good bit of the line.&uot;

The Wildcats may end up somewhere at the top after they missed out on the region title last season for the first time in five years. But if the Tigers have anything to prove starting tonight in Liberty, it’s that they want to elbow their way in their among the top teams in the region.

&uot;I know in the preseason we weren’t picked to do that well, and we kind of used that as a motivational tool,&uot; Harness said. &uot;They believe in themselves and are working hard toward a goal of making the playoffs and winning the district. It’s just hard work and hustle &045; that’s all it takes.&uot;

On the flip side of that is Amite County, who is 0-2 so far with a loss last week to a solid Grenada team. The Trojans opened with a loss to a solid Tylertown squad, and they’re hoping to get things corrected this week for the opener of region play against the Tigers.

Amite County lost those two games by a combined score of 85-24.

&uot;We’ve been trying to get it together and trying to play good, solid football,&uot; ACHS head coach Elbert &uot;Mo&uot; Lyles said. &uot;But we’ve been coming along. We feel like we’ve been progressing. The competition was pretty fierce. We’re kind of looking forward to a win. This is a new season, and everybody is looking forward to it. It seems like it’s about even and hasn’t been like that in a while.&uot;

The Tigers come in after their offense put up a balanced showing last week in the road win over Velma Jackson. After pounding Ernest Havard and Avery Hammett with the ground game in the first two wins, the Tigers connected with the pass with Christopher Carradine hitting Josh Nichols on four catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

&uot;We’re trying to get to that point,&uot; Harness said. &uot;The first couple of games we didn’t have to pass the ball, and we want to go with what’s working for us. I think all of the teams in the district are going to be tough, especially Amite County. They’re very well-coached, and their defense is very good. They’re good against the run. This will be the hardest game we’ve played so far.&uot;

The Trojans, meanwhile, surely don’t want to open region at 0-1.

&uot;They’re a good football team, and they’re 3-0 &045; that speaks for itself,&uot; Lyles said. &uot;They’ve only given up eight points and have scored some points, too. It’s going to be a challenge for us.&uot;

The Wildcats, meanwhile, enter the game after hitting a bump in the road last week in their home opener in falling to Jackson, La., 18-12. They started with two solid wins on the road over South Delta and Pointe Coupee, La., Central &045; both shutouts &045; but couldn’t follow through last week.

Wilkinson County travels to North Pike tonight.

&uot;We had too many mistakes and turnovers,&uot; Moore said. &uot;We had seven or eight fumbles. We had it and could have beaten them, but we got close to their end zone and fumbled. Things started happening, and turnovers killed us. On the last drive we scored, but they called it back for holding. But it really shouldn’t have come down to that.&uot;

The Wildcats did well stopping the run in the first two contests, but Jackson came out last week with a couple trick pass plays late to score. It’s the defense that will likely have to play big against North Pike tonight if the offense can correct the mistakes from last week.

&uot;They’re going to be pretty solid,&uot; Moore said. &uot;They return a lot from last year. We’re going to have to stop the run. They’ve got good backs &045; three or four good backs. But our defense has been playing pretty well.&uot;

In other action, Port Gibson hosts Hazlehurst with Franklin County playing out of the region against Wesson. The Blue Waves opened the season with a 14-12 win over Class 5A Natchez but have since lost their last two games by a combined score of 56-8.