MEADVILLE &045; Things really haven’t changed much in Anthony Hart’s three years at Franklin County.

For the past three seasons Hazlehurst has been as solid a team as anyone in Region 7-3A, and this time around is no exception. Now, however, Hart’s Franklin County Bulldogs are the heavy favorites to win the region this season after knocking off the Indians for the top spot last year.

On Friday night, the two teams will match up again as MHSAA schools in the Miss-Lou enter Week 7.

Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. in Hazlehurst.

&uot;We know what they’re going to do, and they know what we’re going to do,&uot; Hart said. &uot;We’ve been playing each other for three years, and we know each other really well. I feel like Hazlehurst is as good as anybody I’ve seen this year on tape, and I’ve seen everybody just about one time or another. No doubt about it, they are the best we’ll face.&uot;

It’s for the top spot in Region 7-3A again with both teams coming into the contest undefeated. It was the same way last year when the Bulldogs claimed a 29-12 win over the Indians when both teams came into the contest undefeated, and the Indians handed Franklin its only region loss in 2002.

But this Franklin County team is likely the best of any of Hart’s teams so far at Franklin. The Bulldogs have just mashed their last four opponents by a combined score of 198-6 and have allowed just 25 points all season.

They jumped all over a good Jefferson County squad last week 45-0, including a 38-0 lead at halftime. The Tigers finished with just 16 yards total offense.

&uot;I think we probably played better last week than we have since Game 1,&uot; Hart said. &uot;We came out, jumped on them and dominated them pretty early. I’ve got a lot of respect for Jefferson County coming in, and I thought they had some good football players. We just had an extremely good night. We played good defense. We didn’t give them much.&uot;

The Bulldogs’ defense has yet to give up more than 10 points since Lawrence County scored 13 in the first week of the season. But their biggest challenge lies straight ahead Friday night with the Indians, who have scored at least four touchdowns each game since dropping their season opener to Brookhaven, 22-6.

The Indians will do it with speed, and it’s a matter of containing the outsides and preventing the big play.

&uot;They’re just a real fine team, and I’m impressed with them,&uot; Hart said. &uot;They’re real fast and real quick. Whatever they do, they do well. I feel like a lot of times people don’t understand Hazlehurst &045; there’s speed, and then there’s Hazlehurst. We won’t face anybody with as much speed and quickness as they have.&uot;

Natchez at Hattiesburg

NATCHEZ &045; The Bulldogs are making some significant progress this season, something that’s been missing the last three seasons.

The team’s defense played its best game two weeks ago at Picayune, and last week the passing game clicked the best it has all season in a 59-34 loss to Meridian. Now it’s just a matter of putting it all together.

Which, by the way, is easier said than done.

&uot;We’re working on consistency &045; the same ol’ story,&uot; Natchez High head coach Lance Reed said. &uot;We haven’t gotten it all together yet. We’re hoping we can put it all together this week.&uot;

For most of the season the Bulldogs rotated quarterbacks Jason Bruce and Riley Trask, but against Meridian Trask had the hot hand and played most of the game. The senior threw for 283 yards, while Bruce played sparingly while nursing an injury.

Bruce, however, is fine now and should play on Friday.

&uot;It’s just a quick passing game,&uot; Reed said. &uot;Riley was pretty much on last week. He kind of had a good week of practice, and it showed on Friday. (The rotation) is making them better.&uot;

Friday’s game at Hattiesburg is the third in Division 4-5A for the Bulldogs, who have not won a division game since the final game of the 2000 season. The Tigers present another hurdle for the Bulldogs with an offense based around speedy running back Jonathan Kirksey.

&uot;They’ve lost two in a row, but they’re definitely a solid team,&uot; Reed said. &uot;The running back makes things happen, and they play defense pretty well. We have another chance to put a game together and see if we can get some consistency. We’ve got to contain those guys with the talent they have.&uot;

Enterprise at Cathedral

NATCHEZ &045; No one can say this so far in Region 4-1A but Cathedral: Mize and Mount Olive are out of the way.

So from here on out the Green Wave will be at least matched up closer than against the two powerhouses in the region. Things don’t get easier, however, but it makes for more of a level playing field.

The Green Wave just has to take advantage of it. Two playoff spots remain up for grabs.

&uot;We’ve had a rough two weeks, but we’ve probably played we’ve probably played two of the top seven or eight 1A schools in the state,&uot; CHS head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said. &uot;We were hoping we could come out of those games injury-free. That’s what we’re trying to do this week &045; trying to be positive, working hard and trying to have a good season from here on out.&uot;

The Green Wave has three losses in region, and Salem currently sits in the No. 3 spot with just one loss with Mount Olive remaining on the schedule. Outside of those three, the playing field really levels out with the Green Wave, Enterprise, Stringer, Dexter, West Lincoln, St. Aloysius and Bogue Chitto.

But everyone still has to come out and play. The Green Wave will have two players back Friday against the Yellow Jackets with Logan Brown and Jesse Morrison returning.

A big key is to get up early. In every game the Cathedral has lost this season, the opponent got up quickly.

&uot;If we can come out, play well in the first quarter and get a big lead, I think it’ll boost our confidence,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;If we fall behind early, I don’t know how we’ll react. We need to do the same thing we did against West Lincoln.&uot;

North Pike at Jefferson

FAYETTE &045; The Tigers suffered their second loss in region last week, but there is still plenty of hope of getting into the playoffs.

Wilkinson County is struggling with injuries, and the Tigers could regroup and get a solid grip on the No. 3 spot in 7-3A with a win over North Pike. The Tigers have the tie-breaker over Wilkinson and have just Hazlehurst yet to play, while Wilkinson has both Hazlehurst and Franklin.

Wilkinson at Port Gibson

WOODVILLE &045; The Wildcats are battling injuries, and they were grounded pretty solidly on offense last week against Hazlehurst.