woodville — The Wilkinson County High School football team had little trouble moving past the first round of the MHSAA Class 3A playoffs last week.

The Wildcats put up 58 points en route to a 26-point home victory over a Morton High School team that finished its season with a 3-7 record.

But the Wildcats’ second round opponent has had much more success this season than Morton.

Unbeaten Philadelphia High School will host Wilkinson County Friday, and Wildcats’ head coach Kenneth Brown said his team knows what it is up against this week.

“They are big,” he said. “They look like they have some athletes too, but they are definitely big.”

Philadelphia has dominated teams with its strong running game and a defense that has allowed just five points per game this season.

“We have to figure out a way to shut their running game down, and see if they can do something else,” Brown said.

The Wildcats did use their opening-round victory to gain some confidence and some playoff experience, Brown said.

“At this stage, when you are in the playoffs, it just feels great to get a win,” he said. “Hopefully we can carry that on to the next round. It was a tough process to just get into the playoffs in the division we played in, and hopefully that is going to help us this week.”

The winner of Friday’s matchup will move on to the third round to face either McLaurin High School or West Marion High School.

Wilkinson County (9-2) will travel to Philadelphia (12-0) with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.