What a weekend of football it&8217;s been thus far. Friday night saw a second round of games in the MHSAA and MPSA, as well as the opening night of LHSAA football in the Miss-Lou.

Saturday, we finally got a look at what the rest of our college teams can do.

Friday night was full of surprises, highlighted by Vidalia and Ferriday&8217;s impressive opening wins and Natchez going on the road to beat Vicksburg.

Whether Vidalia would be able to keep up with the incredible speed of the Block Bears was a question for the sports staff here at the office, but Vikings head coach Dee Faircloth came out with the perfect strategy of simply keeping the ball away from the Block offense.

Demack Bates showed off his toughness by carrying the ball 32 times for 176 tough yards, and you&8217;d better believe very few of those yards came easily.

Bates broke tackles, dragged defenders and did everything short of coming to blows with the Block defense in grinding away each yard.

Block was also hindered by the absence of its quarterback, Matt Green, who was out with a case of viral meningitis. Look for further updates on his condition in the coming days.

Elsewhere in Louisiana, Mangham, which had garnered votes in the LSWA&8217;s preseason top 10, came to Ferriday Friday night and found themselves embarrassed and humiliated at the hands of the Trojans.

Quarterback Kendrick Harris passed for 283 yards and two scores and Montario Tennessee rushed for 198 and three more in the 45-6 bludgeoning.

I expected Ferriday&8217;s young squad to struggle early on this season, especially after having lost several leaders, but it would appear the Trojans will be a force to be reckoned with in the LHSAA this season.

While perhaps not surprising, Natchez&8217;s overtime road win over Vicksburg may be the signal that this is finally the year the Bulldogs reach their full potential.

With three more games remaining before their season truly begins to count in region play, the Bulldogs will have plenty of opportunities to prepare for a true playoff run.

The hardest part of rebuilding is finally getting over the hump and taking a big road win against a rival, and the Bulldogs have now done that.

The first college football Saturday also told us a lot about several teams throughout the country.

LSU, of course, had little trouble defeating Louisiana-Lafayette. The quarterback debate may even be settled for a while with Russell&8217;s performance.

Southern Miss gave Florida a bit of a scare in the Swamp, but the Gators had just a bit too much talent for the Golden Eagles. Tim Tebow (who pretty much crushed the spirits of about half of my home state last December by choosing Florida over Alabama) made his debut and scored a rushing touchdown.

Football season is only just beginning, and my head is already spinning from all the possibilities.

Tim Cottrell is the sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached by phone at 601-445-3632 or by e-mail at

tim.cottrell@natchezdemocrat.com