JONESVILLE — For the second straight week, the Block High School Bears will be on the road to take on a nearby rival opponent. This Friday night, Block will visit Jena High School to take on the LHSAA Class 3A Giants with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Block head coach Benny Vault Jr. said it did not take long for the now 0-2 Bears to get over last weekend’s 28-26 double overtime loss to Ferriday High School and start preparing for a Jena team that hammered Grant High School 35-8 last week to improve to 1-1.

“We got back here and forgot about that. We started getting some film on Jena because they are a tough team,” Vault said. “We’ve got to get our team to match the intensity of the other team. That’s why I schedule these teams — to get ready for the other (district) part of the season,”

Vault said that the numbers game that comes with being a Class 3A team is not the only thing that concerns him about Jena.

“They’ve got a good running back, Charlie Smith,” he said. “He’s really fast. They do a lot of trapping inside. It only takes one step for the backs to get past you. It’s another rivalry for us. The kids, they know each other. It’s like the Ferriday game.”

Offensively, Jena runs a load option and quick traps, but they will throw the ball when they need to just to keep the defense honest.

“They’ve got a quarterback that’s pretty fast,” Vault said. “Both backs seem to be pretty fast. They’ve got two good receivers outside. The first two games, they hit the deep ball. You can’t be concerned just with the run,”

Defensively, the Giants will not run the 4-3 defense that they use against the rest of their opponents.

“With us, they’ll play a 5-front and sometimes a 6-front. They know we like to run the ball. They’re never unpredictable. They’ve got a good middle linebacker in there. They look rough.”

Block will be without senior defensive tackle/fullback Kendrick Curry, who is also the team’s long snapper on special teams, for this week’s game with a strained knee.

Vault said that the team had a light practice Monday, but will pick it up Tuesday and Wednesday to get ready for what should be a grind-it-out, intense game with Jena.

Wilkinson County at South Plaquemines (La.)

WOODVILLE — The Wilkinson County High School Wildcats will travel south of New Orleans and down to Port Sulphur, La., to take on the South Plaquemines High School Hurricanes Friday night. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.

Even though Wilkinson County played Thursday night at Forest Hill High School in Jackson, head coach Kenneth Brown gave the assistant coaches and players last Friday off instead of having an extra day of practice. The Wildcats lost that game 26-6 to fall to 1-3 overall.

“Let them do what they want to do. Go watch another game. We don’t want to push them too far,” Brown said. “Monday, we did film work, stretching and weightlifting. We’ve got to keep them going and keep striving for a win.”

Unfortunately for Brown, he has not gotten any game tape on South Plaquemines.

“I don’t know any more than what they did last year. They still have the same coach (Cedric Figaro). Hopefully, we’ll get something on them this week,” Brown said. “They seem to have some pretty good athletes. So, we’ll make adjustments when we need to.”

Last year when the two teams met at Wilkinson County, the Wildcats came away with a 30-0 win. Through two games so far this season, the 0-2 Hurricanes have scored just 10 points per game while giving up 45.5 points per game.

Franklin County at South Pike

MEADVILLE — After last Friday night’s home game against Tylertown High School was cancelled because of inclement weather and unplayable field conditions, the 1-1 Franklin County High School Bulldogs will turn their attention this week to their road game against the 2-1 South Pike High School Eagles. Kickoff on Friday is at 7 p.m.

Franklin County head coach Anthony Hart said practice has gone well this week, and he is glad the weather has been cooperative so far.

“We’ve been dry this week, so that’s good. It was wet (at times) last week,” Hart said.

The Bulldogs will take on a South Pike team that has already won more games this season through three games than it did the entire 2013 season when the Eagles finished 1-9.

When asked what concerns him the most about South Pike, Hart said, “A lot of team speed.” Hart added that he’s not sure if the Eagles are a more experienced team than the one the Bulldogs faced and defeated 28-22 a year ago.

“They beat a good Hammond team (45-34) last week. It’s going to be a challenge for us because of all the team speed they have,” Hart said.

Franklin County’s defense will try to slow down a South Pike team that has averaged nearly 37 points a game through its first three games.

Ben’s Ford Christian at Centreville

CENTREVILLE — For the second straight season, Ben’s Ford Christian School and Centreville Academy will take on each other in the MAIS District 6-AA opener for both teams.

However, Friday night’s game will be different in that it is also the homecoming game for the 4-0 Tigers, the No. 1 team in all of Class AA, who are coming off a 55-15 drubbing of Class AAA Parklane Academy last week.

Assistant coach Brian Stutzman said while it might be tough to keep the players focused in the days leading up to the game, they need to understand that it is a district game.

“We stress the importance of this being a district game. We want to start 1-0 in district,” Stutzman said.

Ben’s Ford will go into this game with a 3-1 overall record, after the Eagles defeated Prentiss Christian School 32-20 last week.

“They’ve got basically the same team back. They picked up several players (from other schools). They’re a much-improved team,” Stutzman said. “They have a really good running back that’s fast. They have a quarterback that runs hard and throws the ball pretty good.”

Kickoff for Centreville Academy’s homecoming game against Ben’s Ford Christian School will be at 7 p.m.

Porter’s Chapel at WCCA

WOODVILLE — With Trinity Episcopal already at 1-0 in MAIS District 4-A and having secured a berth in the Class A playoffs, Friday night’s 7 p.m. game between Porter’s Chapel Academy and Wilkinson County Christian Academy will definitely have playoff implications.

A win by WCCA (0-4 overall) in its district opener and the Rams will be in with a 1-0 district mark. The Eagles (1-3 overall) are behind the 8-ball with a 0-1 record in district play after blowing a 25-13 lead at home and losing to Trinity 32-25 last week.

Head coach Kyle White said that the team will try to get in as much work at practice this week as it possibly can.

“The incentive of it being a district game, I would hope it will benefit us. That and playing a single A school for the first time this season,” White said. “But at the same time, have a little fun this week. Embrace it. It’s homecoming.”

But at the same time, WCCA must try to contain a Porter’s Chapel offense led by senior quarterback Zac Morgan that likes to stretch the field.

“Going back to the ACCS game and parts of the Tri-County game, you have to work on that,” White said. “They have two dynamic wide receivers. What we have to do is work on coverage and not allowing big plays.”

White added that Morgan is the “undisputed” most important player on the Eagles’ offense.