AMITE, La. &045; The annual Centreville-Oak Forest matchup always garners plenty of interest, but this time it’s for everything.

Friday’s match at OFA will be for the District 4-AA championship with the winner opening the playoffs at home and the loser hitting the road to open the postseason. It’s also the latest installment in a series of a former CA assistant and player coaching against his mentor and is yet to lose.

Both teams are undefeated in district heading into Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff as MPSA schools in the Miss-Lou enter Week 10.

&uot;It’s not as big as it gets, but it’s pretty big,&uot; said OFA head coach Jason Brabham, who is 4-0 against longtime Centreville head coach Bill Hurst. &uot;It decides who gets the district trophy and who gets to host in the playoffs and who gets to travel. This is what you do it for. It’s late October, and you’re trying to get ready to play in November.&uot;

Friday’s game has the biggest implications since the meeting two years ago when Oak Forest claimed a 27-21 win at home to get a leg up in the district race. The Yellow Jackets went on to claim a state championship while the Tigers lost in the first round of the playoffs to Simpson.

Hurst’s Tigers (5-0, 8-1) struggled last year and didn’t make the playoffs but are ready to make up for lost time this season. Their 48-34 win over a good Brookhaven Academy team last week knocked the Cougars out of the playoff picture with only the top two teams getting into the postseason.

The Tigers have dropped one game this season (a one-point loss to Class AAA Parklane) but have since relied on running back Blake Devall and experienced quarterback Jennings Field to move the ball on offense.

&uot;I think it’s a little different,&uot; Brabham said. &uot;They don’t have the great huge linemen that you see. They’ve got some smaller linemen and no 300-pounders. I doubt they have anybody who weighs 250, but they might. They’re running a wing-T, and it’s not so much of a one-man show. They do a good job of it.&uot;

The Yellow Jackets (5-0, 8-1) have motored through most of their schedule this season &045; including a 20-0 win over Trinity Episcopal and a 39-3 win over Adams Christian &045; but had to fend off Brookhaven two weeks ago to stay in the driver’s seat.

The Cougars held a 20-19 lead heading into the fourth quarter before the Yellow Jackets picked up two quick scores &045; Shane Holland hit Taylor Finch on a touchdown pass, and Brandon Seal returned a fumble for a touchdown.

The Jackets struggled in the secondary but bounced back last week in a 37-12 win over Columbia thanks to five interceptions.

&uot;I think that game helped us,&uot; Brabham said. &uot;We worked on our pass defense. We kind of got lax, and I felt like our guys responded real well. We played much better pass defense last week.&uot;

The Tigers, too, had to work on defense after struggling at times to stop the run in a 28-21 win over Trinity Episcopal. Brookhaven’s Price Sessums put up 283 yards passing on Centreville last week, but the Cougars had no answer on defense, either.

Friday’s game could be a high-scoring one, something neither coach would like to see.

&uot;Defensively, I think they did something a little different against Brookhaven,&uot; Brabham said. &uot;But we do basically the same things on defense &045; a 3-5. The defense matches up well with our type of offense. They scored 48 points last week, so they obviously have a good offensive football team. I’m sure it’ll be a good game. They’ve definitely got a sound football team.&uot;

Adams Christian at Riverfield

NATCHEZ &045; Depth never was a big strength, and now the Rebels (2-1, 5-4) may be staring at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to running backs.

After losing Dustin Case and Cole Bradford to injuries, the team called on Heath Williams and Lee Dellinger to step up. Both did the job, but now it’s Williams who may not play Friday with a shoulder injury.

It moves Brock Vines up in his place along with Dellinger in the Rebels’ final District 3-AA contest. Lineman Patrick Womack may also sit out with a shoulder injury.

&uot;We’re just about out of running backs &045; we really are,&uot; AC head coach Keith Walters said. &uot;Whichever one is not hurt will be the only one we have left. What it does to you is it makes it hard to be consistent. It’s really hard for them to get going and know what to do. We’ve got two more weeks, and hopefully we’ll play well.

&uot;We just keep on asking our kids to step up. I’ve been pretty pleased with them. We’re not crying about it. We’re just going on.&uot;

Fortunately for the Rebels, they’re in the playoffs for the second straight year and will travel to that OFA-Centreville winner to open the playoffs. The loss last week to Central Hinds locked up the No. 2 spot since both Copiah and Prairie View each have two losses, one coming to ACCS.

But there’s still Riverfield (0-3, 5-4) a team that may play over its head Friday in its final game of the season.

&uot;We don’t want to back into it,&uot; Walters said. &uot;We want to play well and hopefully win. They’ve got a pretty good football team. We expect them to bounce back strong. They’ve had some injury problems early in the year, but they’re healthy now. We feel if we can play well the next two weeks it’ll certainly help us. Then we’ll see what happens.&uot;

WCCA at Huntington

WOODVILLE &045; Just when they had the injuries well in their rear-view mirror, now the Rams are battling another obstacle: a virus that’s spreading fast.

Three starters were missing during Tuesday’s practice and four on Monday following Friday night’s win over Amite School Center to wrap up the District 6-A championship.

Now the Rams (3-0, 4-5) have Huntington on Friday to finish the regular season before hosting Tensas Academy in the first round of the playoffs next week.

&uot;We went into last Friday’s game asking what players we were going to have to play because they’re sick, and Coach (Ray) Olive and I got sick,&uot; WCCA head coach Paul Hayles said. &uot;We got over the injury bug, and now this virus has hit us. We haven’t battled with something like this in a while. It has been the oddest year.&uot;

It’s been a myriad of things that really has kept the Rams from building something fluid and consistent through the first nine games. There was a point when that began to unfold when they went to Prentiss Christian and pounded the Saints, but now things are starting to unravel a bit.

And there’s no use in assuming they can get it back on track Friday against struggling Huntington (1-4, 3-6). The Hounds are playing their final regular season game and would sure love to finish with a win.

&uot;This game holds a lot for us,&uot; Hayles said. &uot;We haven’t had a solid winning season. We gave away some games we felt like we could win. We want to be 5-5 going into the playoffs. We’ve got to continue to perform. Huntington plays hard from the start. I got a chance to scout them against Tensas, and they’re not bad at all.&uot;

Trinity at Brookhaven

NATCHEZ &045; The Saints still have a shot at a winning season and could clinch that Friday on the road, but the Cougars may have a say in that.

The Saints (2-3, 5-4) can do it with next week’s game at Central Hinds to finish out the regular season and miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2000 season. Brookhaven, too, won’t make the playoffs as both teams played well during the District 4-AA slate but couldn’t overcome Oak Forest or Centreville.

The Saints rallied past Bowling Green last week thanks to Zach Rogel and Kris Ford connecting in the passing game. Ford finished with eight catches for 212 yards.

Tensas at Claiborne Academy

ST. JOSEPH, La. &045; The Chiefs are in the playoffs and have a chance to keep the momentum going Friday night on the road.

Tensas will play at WCCA in the first round of the playoffs, while 7-A champion River Oaks will host Prentiss Christian. It’ll be the Chiefs’ first visit to the postseason since the 2001 season.

The Chiefs had a solid win over Huntington last week and have their offense playing well with Tyler White at quarterback and Will Ratcliff and Cody Hill in the backfield.