FAYETTE — The four teams representing MHSAA Region 7-3A in the postseason have already been determined. Now, three of those teams will battle for second, third and fourth place behind top-seeded Hazlehurst.

Franklin County (7-3, 3-1), who is currently alone in second place in the region, will travel to Fayette Friday to take on Jefferson County (3-7, 2-2), who is in fourth place.

The formula is simple for the Bulldogs, win and finish in second place. That would give Franklin County a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

“It would be big taking second overall,” Franklin County coach Rickey O’Quinn said. “We would still come up short of our ultimate goal, because anytime you play you want to come out and win it. But if we come in second place, we get a home playoff game, and that would be big.”

O’Quinn said securing that last region-win Friday would not be easy, however.

“(Jefferson County) is a good football team,” he said. “They are big, fast and athletic. I don’t know exactly what their record is, but I know it doesn’t show what type of team they are.”

O’Quinn said Jefferson County’s balanced offense would challenge the Bulldogs’ defense.

“They do a lot,” he said. “They can spread it out and can run and throw the football well. You have to prepare for it all. They try to keep you off balance, and we will have to work as coaches (this week) to show them everything. This late in the year, there aren’t many things you haven’t seen, so we have to go through the details.”

O’Quinn said turnovers, penalties and controlling the run game would be major factors in the game.

The playoff scenarios for Jefferson County are a little more complicated. If the Tigers can beat Franklin County, and Wilkinson County loses to Prentiss, then Jefferson County and Franklin County would be tied for second at 3-2, and the Tigers would own the head-to-head tiebreaker. If, the Tigers win and Wilkinson County wins, there will be a three-way tie, and a second tiebreaker would be needed to determine the seeds of the three teams, because each team would have beaten one of the other teams.

But, none of those things matter to Jefferson County head coach James Herrington, he said.

“Basically the district standings are out the window,” he said. “We are in the playoffs and pretty much the playoffs start this week for us. We don’t want to go in backing in, we want to go in with momentum, and every game from here on out is a must win.

“It just doesn’t have anything to do with (standings) right now. What we have to do right now is win.”

Herrington said the Tigers’ have worked on stopping Franklin County’s power running game this week in practice.

“Offensively they run a good mixture,” he said. “They seem to have a good passer with pretty strong, nice-sized backs, and receivers that seem to catch the ball pretty well.”

Herrington said he looks for his team to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball Friday.

The Bulldogs and the Tigers will face off in Fayette at 7 p.m. Friday.

Wilkinson County at Prentiss

WOODVILLE — Wilkinson County is currently in third place in Region 7-3A and looking to stay there with a win over Prentiss Friday, head coach Kenneth Brown said.

“The last game is important mainly to keep us where we are,” he said. “We are in third, and I think we can stay in third with a win.”

The Wildcats will face a struggling Prentiss team Friday.

“From watching film they are fairly young, and they don’t look all that explosive,” Brown said. “They have one key back that we have to keep our eyes on (Damion Jones). They started the last game in the double wing but finished the game with the spread.”

Brown said his team has prepared for both offenses this week in practice.

He also said his team would have to be aware for fake kicks and trick plays from Prentiss.

“They will fake punts anywhere on the field,” he said.

Brown said he hopes to see the Wildcats play good football heading into the postseason.

“I hope to come out focused,” he said. “We have to be prepared, carry out our assignments and start early.”

Wilkinson County (5-4, 2-2) will travel to Prentiss (1-9, 0-4). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.