MAGNOLIA — Franklin County head coach Trent Hammond knew going into Friday night’s Region 7-3A match-up with undefeated South Pike that the Bulldogs could not have a second loss in region play.

Even though the Eagles had only played four games so far this season, they had already played and won their first three games in 7-3A while the Bulldogs went into this contest with a 2-1 mark, having already lost to Tylertown.

With second place in region play and the inside track on a first-round home playoff game at stake, Franklin County steam-rolled to a 42-6 win to improve to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in region play.

The Bulldogs wore down South Pike’s defense with their stout running game to the tune of 226 yards on 37 carries. Jamie Collins had 10 carries for 84 yards and two touchdowns while Damien Burnett had eight carries for 65 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns that put the game away.

Franklin County’s defense had another stellar performance as well. The Bulldogs held South Pike to just 60 yards on 30 carries while forcing two turnovers. Because of a lack of a running game, Eagles quarterback Isaac Tate threw 25 passes, yet only completed five of them for 98 yards.

One of those turnovers turned into six points as Milton Griffin intercepted a Tate pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Jordan Hunt’s two-point conversion run gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Edward James, who led South Pike (4-1, 3-1) in rushing with 50 yards on six carries, scored the Eagles’ only touchdown on a 34-yard run early in the third quarter to make it a 28-6 score in favor of the Bulldogs. But any thoughts of a comeback by the host team were squashed by a pair of Burnett 12-yard scoring runs in the final quarter.

Marksville 41, Vidalia 12

MARKSVILLE, La. — Coming off an impressive win over a Bunkie team that was favored to win the District 3-3A championship, Vidalia could not afford a letdown as it hit the road to take on Marksville.

However, the Tigers had other plans as they cruised to a 29-point win over the Vikings to improve to 2-3 overall and 2-0 in district play. The loss left Vidalia at 2-4 overall and 1-1 in district play.

No other information on the game was available.

LaSalle 21, Block 20

OLLA, La. — Block head coach Benny Vault Jr. described the Bears’ game with the Tigers Friday night as the one that would determine which team would win the District 3-1A championship.

However, LaSalle hadn’t played a district game going into its game with Block, and St. Mary’s of Natchitoches hosts both teams in the next two weeks. Either way, it was a big game for both teams and the fans got their money’s worth as the Tigers held on for a one-point win.

Vault said he was not pleased with the team’s effort and lack of focus at times during the game.

“We had two touchdowns called back on a chop block and a hold. I felt like this was the game where we lacked the effort,” Vault said. “The small things are killing us. If we can eliminate those, we’ll be alright come playoff time. We’ve got to dig down a little deeper.”

Curdarius Johnson scored on a 13-yard run with just under five minutes to go in the first quarter, but the extra point was no good. Drew White scored on a 3-yard run for LaSalle and Matthew Devaux made the extra point to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

VaShawn Davis scored the first of his two touchdowns with 4:12 to go until halftime on a 9-yard run, and John Bloodsaw added the two-point conversion run to give Block (3-3, 1-1) a 14-7 lead. But just 17 seconds later, Kenny White scored on a 2-yard run and Devaux’s extra point made it 14-14 at halftime.

White scored on a 12-yard run nearly midway through the third quarter, and Devaux once again made the extra point to give LaSalle (5-2, 1-0) a 21-14 lead. Then with 9:38 to go in the game, Davis scored on a 1-yard run, but the Bears came up inches short on the two-point conversion run.

Davis led the Bears’ running game with 82 yards on 11 carries while Johnson completed eight of 15 passes for 106 yards, but he threw three costly interceptions. Block turned the ball over four times to just once for LaSalle.

Sterlington 25, Ferriday 6

STERLINGTON, La. — Ferriday had multiple opportunities to put a lot of points on the board, but the Trojans once again were their own worst enemy as they fell to the Panthers Friday night in District 2-2A action.

“Going into halftime, the score should have been 6-0” in Sterlington’s favor, Ferriday head coach Freddie Harrison said. Instead, a bad snap by the center went over the punter’s head and Sterlington recovered at the Trojans’ 18-yard lien. The Panthers eventually scored to take a 12-0 halftime lead.

“That was our only big error that we made all night,” Harrison said. “Defensively, we had a whole bunch of mental busts. Some guys were being selfish. ZuRanie Thompson played a great game for us. He didn’t turn the ball over once.”

What also hurt Ferriday (3-4, 0-2) was that it got inside the Sterlington 10-yard line six times during the game and could only get in the end zone once while turning the ball over on downs the other five times.

Sterlington improved to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in district play.

Lawrence County 33,

Jefferson County 30

MONTICELLO — In what turned out to be a much closer game than expected, the Cougars held on for a three-point win over the Tigers Friday night.

Class 4A Lawrence County improved to 7-1 overall while Class 3A Jefferson County lost its fourth straight game and fell to 3-5 overall. No other information on the game was available.

North Pike 20,

Wilkinson County 12

WOODVILLE — Wilkinson County’s homecoming game didn’t turn out the way the Wildcats were hoping as they lost to the Jaguars to remain winless on the season.

Wilkinson County fell to 0-7 overall and 0-4 in Region 7-3A while North Pike improved to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in region play. No other information was available.

Natchez High 18, Jim Hill 14

NATCHEZ — Natchez High kept its playoff hopes alive with an 18-14 win over Jim Hill Friday night at Tom F. Williams Memorial Stadium in a key Region 3-5A game for both teams.

With the win, Natchez High improved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in region play. Jim Hill fell to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in region play. If both teams win out, the Bulldogs would own the tiebreaker and finish in fourth place and would get in the playoffs.

Natchez High plays at Terry next Friday in another important region contest.

No other information on the game was available.