NATCHEZ &045; How many times in recent seasons has Natchez High been in this situation?

Not many, so cut the Bulldogs some slack. They’re 2-1 and coming off their most one-sided wins since the 2000 season, but this time things are different. The first time the Bulldogs came off a win they came out flat in the Vicksburg game and fell behind 33-7 early in the second half.

This time after clobbering Jefferson County 49-8 last week, the objective is to stay at an even keel. The Bulldogs visit Franklin County Friday night as MHSAA schools in the Miss-Lou enter Week 4.

&uot;I think our kids have a little taste of confidence,&uot; NHS head coach Lance Reed said. &uot;Right now it’s just a matter of going out there week-in and week-out and performing. We’re struggling with coming out and having good practices and things like that. A lot of things like that are going to keep our program from being where it needs to be. But we’re definitely going in a better direction.&uot;

Friday’s game will go a ways in determining how far in that right direction the team is going in Reed’s second season on the job. It’s also the latest installment of a revamped pre-region schedule for Natchez, one that’s more local-oriented as opposed to facing South Pike, Madison Central or Warren Central.

It could be a test to see how much improvement the team has made heading into its 4-5A opener next week at home against Meridian.

&uot;That’s why we scheduled those guys,&uot; Reed said. &uot;They’re one of the best 3A teams in the state. We need to play them. They’re going to be aggressive, come off the ball and run the ball well. Those are things we need to prepare for our district. They play great defense, and we definitely have our hands full.&uot;

It’s a good test on the other side for Franklin County, who enters on a two-game skid despite falling to a solid 4A team in Terry and the top-ranked 2A squad in Lumberton. Yet these Bulldogs are honest enough to know it hasn’t all been who’s on the other side of the line of scrimmage in those two losses.

Lumberton blanked Franklin County 26-0.

&uot;That hasn’t helped, but we haven’t played up to our capabilities,&uot; Franklin County head coach Grady McCluskey said. &uot;It’s a combination of the two &045; not playing up to our potential and playing tough people. Too many missed opportunities. We’re trying to work through it.&uot;

Franklin County has struggled at times with its option offense following the loss of a number of playmakers from last season. The offense had just 123 yards total offense against Lumberton, and that was two weeks removed from fighting for a 6-0 win over Brookhaven in Week 1.

D.J. Shaw had only 40 yards on 12 carries last week.

&uot;We’re trying to, but we didn’t have much success last week running,&uot; McCluskey said. &uot;Some of the older guys are not playing up to their potential and the new guys not knowing what they’re supposed to do. We’ve had better practices this week. We finally got their attention a little bit better.&uot;

Natchez High’s offense clicked against Jefferson last week with quarterback Jason Bruce putting up 135 yards in an effort that didn’t require much passing. This time, however, the offense will match up against a defense that’s solid up front with Marcus Tillman (6-4, 260) at one end and little big brother Bo Tillman (6-6, 315) at the other.

Taylor Hinson and Romardo Thomas will rotate at tackle against Marcus Tillman, who plans to sign with LSU in February.

&uot;They have their hands definitely full,&uot; Reed said. &uot;He comes off the ball well. He plays aggressive. Our offensive line will have to step up and try and contain him.&uot;

The elder Tillman has been on the receiving end of a number of double- and triple-teams so far this season. Natchez won’t have the size to match up with him up front, but the offense will have to be quick enough to keep him from making plays.

&uot;He hadn’t made a lot of plays, and people are concerned about that,&uot; McCluskey said. &uot;But people can go for you and double- and triple-team you, and it makes it tough on you. I look for him to start breaking out of that.&uot;

Cathedral at West Lincoln

NATCHEZ &045; The defensive effort left coaches fuming last week against Dexter, so coaches made some changes.

The Green Wave will go back to its four-man front Friday night, move noseguard Skylar Bacon to defensive end, move Charlie Lane from safety to outside linebacker, move Kole Junkin from end to outside linebacker and move Daniel Jenkins to safety.

Daniel Hollowell, too, may return from an ankle injury to play defensive end.

&uot;We’ve been working on our tackling all week,&uot; Cathedral head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said. &uot;We start each practice off with about 20-256 minutes of tackling drills. The kids have responded. They’ve been working hard. I look for them to do a lot better job of tackling this week. I think they’ll be more aggressive.&uot;

It was enough to make everyone sick, and it allowed Dexter to move the chains, cash in on three big plays and post the win in the 4-1A opener. After starting the season with a five-man front, the Wave went back to four early against Dexter after struggling with defending the corners.

&uot;The main thing is we felt like we need to be a little tougher at those outside linebackers and cut down on some of these teams getting outside on us,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We’re not big enough to play head up. Playing a 4-4, we can stunt a little more than we have been and try to shoot gaps. We’re going to be kind of an attack defense this week instead of trying to hold our position.&uot;

It also helps that this week’s opponent is a struggling West Lincoln team, a school that’s had football for seven years and never posted a win over the Green Wave. The Bears lost last week to Enterprise and have struggled with 15 freshmen.

Bailey at Jefferson County

FAYETTE &045; Last week’s loss to Natchez might have stung, but the Tigers’ new lease on life starts this week.

It’s the Region 6-3A opener in a league that’s not near as talented as the new-and-improved 7-3A to the south. But Bailey is off to a solid 2-0 start.

Wilkinson County at Columbia

WOODVILLE &045; Things may finally appear to be normal for the Wildcats, who have played only one game the last three weeks.