CENTREVILLE — The game of the year in MAIS Class AA will take place Friday night when the top-ranked Centreville Academy Tigers (5-0, 1-0) travel to Clinton, La., to take on the third-ranked Silliman Institute Wildcats (4-1, 1-0). Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

This match-up could not only decide the District 6-AA championship, but perhaps the No. 1 seed for the Class AA State Playoffs come early November. Last year, Centreville Academy escaped with a 24-21 win over Silliman.

“This is the biggest game of the season for us so far. So much is at stake,” assistant coach Brian Stutzman said. “Seeding, the (district) championship, power points. This is the real deal. We’ve got to be ready to play. This will set the tone for the postseason.”

Stutzman said that Silliman presents a big challenge for the Tigers on both sides of the ball.

“They’ve got a great team. They’re really strong on defense. They run a 3-4 defense and a spread offense.”

Peabody at Block

JONESVILLE — The Block Bears will be looking to end a three-game losing streak Friday night, but it will not be easy when they play host to the LHSAA Class 4A Peabody Warhorses with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Block (0-3) is coming off a 35-21 loss to rival Jena while Peabody got their first win of the season last week, 20-14 over Carroll to go to 1-2. Last year, the Warhorses held on for a 26-20 win over the Bears.

Block head coach Benny Vault said three members of the offensive backfield but also that same trio being leaders on the defensive side of the ball — seniors Kendrick Curry, Taylor Perron-Krause and Raymond Plummer — out with injuries, trying to contain him could be a problem.

“That’s our starting fullback and two starting wingbacks as well as our starting defensive tackle (Curry) and our two starting inside linebackers (Perron-Krause and Plummer),” Vault said.

When Peabody is on defense, Vault said the Warhorses run right to the ball and they tackle hard.

“They’ve got four big linemen up front. That will pose a problem for our offensive line and our running backs,” Vault noted. “Offensively, they go shotgun and five-wide. They leave the quarterback in the backfield by himself. His first option is to run the ball. Defensively, they run the 4-3 and they run the nickel defense, a 4-2-5.”

With Curry, Perron-Krause and Plummer on the sidelines for the next two weeks until District 3-1A play begins, Vault said that the offense has had to be more creative and different.

“That’ll give me the opportunity to play some younger players. I’m proud of the way they played last week. That’ll help us out in the long run,” Vault said. “With the running backs out, we’ve had to throw the ball more (with senior quarterback Vyn’quez O’Steen). A couple of times we’ve thrown the ball, we’ve scored touchdowns. We have some good receivers and tight ends. That’s something we’ll be working on in practice.”

Jefferson County at South Delta

FAYETTE — After playing its best and most complete game of the season last week in a 38-8 win over McLaurin High School, the 2-2 Jefferson County Tigers will look to extend their winning streak to three in a row when they travel to Rolling Fork to take on the MHSAA Class 2A South Delta Bulldogs at 7 p.m. Friday.

Even though South Delta goes into this game with an 0-5 record after falling to Humphreys County 36-28, head coach James Herrington knows his team cannot take the Bulldogs lightly. Especially after they defeated the Tigers 28-20 last year.

“They’re pretty much a downhill ball club. They use a two-back set. They’ve got a good running back. They’ve got a big center,” Herrington said. “They run a pro-style offense. A lot of base blocking. Pull and counter.

“They’re a run-first offense. They’re a 4-4 defense. They mix the blitz in. They’re very speedy.”

Herrington noted that South Delta has been going running back by committee this season instead of having one feature back for defenses to contain.

“They platoon backs in. They’ve used No. 20 (Adrian Lee), No. 5 (Arteise Myles) and their quarterback (Mykel McGee). They use the fullback some,” Herrington said. “Their key back is No. 4. He runs the ball very hard. He’s not a big guy, but he runs downhill.”

Wilkinson County vs. Greenwood

WOODVILLE — The Wilkinson County High School Wildcats will look to get their second win in a row Friday night when they play host to the MHSAA Class 4A Greenwood High School Bulldogs.

Kickoff for the game will be at 7 p.m. Even though Greenwood (3-2) defeated Wilkinson County 26-20 last year, Wildcats head coach Kenneth Brown said this will be a completely different team than the one they faced last year.

“Going off last year’s film, the athletes have changed, but the head coach (Clinton Gatewood) and the assistant coaches are the same,” Brown said. “We’ll have to make adjustments as the game goes on. For the most part, larger schools have more depth. That’ll be the biggest problem for us.”

After a hard-fought 14-7 win on a muddy field down at Port Sulphur, La., against South Plaquemines (La.) High School, the Wildcats improved to 2-3 on the season. The good news is that the team got out of that game without any injuries.

“We have everybody healthy and ready to go. Hopefully, we won’t have any problems in practice,” Brown said. “They are eager to face another higher classification team.”

WCCA at Central Private

WOODVILLE — For Wilkinson County Christian Academy, getting that first win of the season last week in a 22-6 victory over MAIS District 4-A opponent Porter’s Chapel Academy, was, as head coach Kyle White described it, “a breath of fresh air.”

Now, the Rams (1-4 overall, 1-0 in District 4-A) will look to extend their winning streak to two games when they travel to Baker, La., to take on the Class AA Central Private School Rebels with kickoff Friday at 7 p.m.

“Getting the first district win, the first win of the season, it’s definitely a step in the right direction,” White said. “They’ve been focused. They’ve been determined. They got a taste of what winning is like. It’s something they want to continue to crave.”

White said the players have had a business-like mentality during practice this week as they prepare for a Rebels team that has gone through a tough schedule this season.

“We’re bruised up from last week. We had a good physical day of practice (Tuesday). We’ll have a good day of practice today,” White said early Wednesday afternoon.”

After defeating Porter’s Chapel on homecoming last Friday night, White said it did not take long for him personally to get that game behind him and start preparing for Central Private.