NATCHEZ — Trinity, coming off a 34-8 win over cross-river rival Huntington, will put their 3-0 record on the line Friday at 7 p.m. when they travel to Flora to take on the 2-1 Tri-County Academy Rebels.

“Tri-County has a tradition-rich football program,” Trinity head coach David King said. “They’ve been down the last three or four years. But this is the best football team they’ve fielded in the last five years.”

The Rebels are coming off a 40-0 loss to Manchester Academy, who King said is one of the better teams in Class AA. Tri-County is also looking for its first win over Trinity in quite some time.

“We’ve had our way with them the last four years,” King said.

Trinity’s offense will face a Tri-County defense that is similar to the one the Saints faced last week in Huntington — one that likes to stop the run.

“We’re going to have to utilize our passing game this week,” King said. “I think their run defense is their strength. We’ve always been tremendously diverse on offense. We don’t like teams who dictate to us. We knew Huntington was going to be tough (to run on), so we went with the pass, and that’s what we’ll do this week.”

If senior quarterback Parker Brumfield has the kind of game this week he had against Huntington, it could be a long night for the Rebels. Brumfield completed eight of 12 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores.

While sophomore running back R.J. Fleming was held in check, his presence was felt in special teams. He returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown, making him a double threat for the Rebels to try to contain.

“I just never believed as a coach that I’ll have one set of offense,” King said. “Our kids are taught to run the ball, pass the ball. We probably have more trick plays than anyone else does.”

Tri-County, on the other hand, is a run-oriented team that is known for its physical play and they spread the ball to several running backs.

“They use the power-I and run it right at you,” King said. “They have a big line.”

King said there will be several players in the box to stop the run and make the Rebels’ offense one-dimensional by trying to beat the Saints with the passing game.

“Looking at the film, they’re very athletic,” he said. “They’re much better than they were last year. We expect very physical play from Tri-County, but our kids don’t mind mixing it up.”