NATCHEZ &8212; The coaching profession breeds plenty of unique match-ups of former colleagues, but an especially interesting one will go down in Woodville Friday night.

While the ACCS Rebels and WCCA Rams battle it out on the field, three coaches with ties to each other will match wits from the sidelines.

ACCS head coach Bobby Marks once coached WCCA head coach Paul Hayles, and Hayles spent two years coaching Rebel defensive coordinator Josh Loy.

&8220;It makes for a unique situation,&8221; Hayles said. &8220;Coach Marks has been there and won there for years. It was my senior year when he got his 200th win. I was coaching Josh Loy when he was a junior at Trinity, and he had some ability and really stood out there.&8221;

Loy was looking forward to the match-up.

&8220;It&8217;s going to be interesting,&8221; he said. &8220;I have a lot of respect for Coach Hayles. A lot of what I know of football started with him. He&8217;s helped me out in the coaching profession. He&8217;s called coaches for me and made connections for be. I&8217;ve got nothing but respect for him. It&8217;ll be interesting coaching against him.&8221;

Marks said he is eager to see how the match-up goes, as well.

&8220;We&8217;re just going to try to win,&8221; he said. &8220;Paul Hayles played for me, Coach Loy played for Paul Hayles. Me and Coach Loy are coaching against my old player and his old coach. Coach Hayles does a great job and he&8217;ll give us all we can stand. I hope we beat him by just one point.&8221;

Loy said any time a match-up like this arises, it can bring mixed feelings from a coach.

&8220;I&8217;m as competitive as anybody,&8221; he said. &8220;I definitely want my kids to do well and perform well against him because it&8217;s my former coach. I&8217;m sure he probably feels the same way (about Coach Marks).&8221;

&8220;It adds incentive to want your team to perform better,&8221; Hayles said. &8220;Last year we were so banged up we couldn&8217;t make it a contest. Hopefully this year we&8217;ll represent ourselves and our school a little better.&8221;

The match-up also features the added implication of being a must-win game for the Rebels, who need the win to qualify for the MPSA Class AA playoffs.

&8220;We&8217;ve got to beat Woodville,&8221; Marks said. &8220;I&8217;m not even thinking about anything but that. If we win that game we should go to Bowling Green for a first round playoff game. (Hayles) has had some players hurt, kind of like us, and now they&8217;re back and running over people.

&8220;I think the kids are ready. They&8217;re practicing hard. The kids are working hard, but I&8217;m sure Paul would love to upset his old coach.&8221;

Hayles said stopping the run would be the key to a win.

&8220;If you&8217;re not prepared to do everything you can to stop that run, AC has you beat already. No one has really made them throw the football. You&8217;ve got both those Guedon boys and (Tel) Faulkner running the ball and doing a good job. We&8217;ve got to find a way to slow them down.&8221;

On the other side of the ball, Hayles said he doubted he&8217;d be able to trick his old coach.

&8220;What can you do that Coach Marks hasn&8217;t seen? If you ever figure that out, you&8217;ve either come up with something new or he&8217;s forgotten about it.&8221;

The two rivals will kick off Friday night at 7 p.m. in Woodville.