Week Seven – Mississippi High-school Football Elite Top 10

Here we go it’s the first week in October which means Regions will begin to shuffle and teams will elbow one another out of the way as we begin developing a playoff picture.  As always it should be another beautiful Friday night in Mississippi so get out and support one of the many great programs around the state.  Those kids deserve it.

Let’s take a look at this week’s Elite-10 poll.

This week’s Elite – 10 poll:

1 – Starkville

2 – South Panola

3 – Brandon

4 – Oxford

5 – Warren Central

6 – Picayune

7 – Oak Grove

8 – Tupelo

9 – Clinton

10 – Wayne County

Just Missed the Cut:  Meridian, Petal, Germantown, Madison Central

Last Week: 8-1

Yearly Predictions: 35-9

Let’s Dive into this week’s matchups.

No. 10 Wayne County at Brookhaven

Todd Mangum’s War Eagles have been on a tear since a week one loss to Oak Grove.  This week they travel to Brookhaven to take on the Panthers.  The Panthers have a really good defense, but Wayne County is on a mission and will be too much for Ole Brook.

Wayne County 31 Brookhaven 21

Columbus at No. 9 Clinton

Judd Boswell’s Arrows are a year ahead of schedule; proof by last week’s thumping of Madison Central.  This team has great athletes across the board and will roll again this week.

Clinton 40 Columbus 14

No. 8 Tupelo at Grenada

Defense, defense, defense – that’s the Tupelo way as they continue to give up very little each week and are sitting at 5-0.  This week the Golden Wave travel to Grenada and take on the surprising 5-1 Chargers.  The Chargers have been taking care of business since a week one loss at West Point, but the buck stops here for Ashley Kuhn’s squad.

Tupelo 30 Grenada 7

Long Beach at No.6 Picayune

The defending 5A-Champion Maroon Tide continues to roll as they are 4-0 and not looking back.  They continue to roll this week against the Bearcats of Long Beach.

Picayune 37 Long Beach 20

No. 5 Warren Central at Greenville

Josh Morgan’s Vikings are off to a 5-0 start, which is the best they have seen in years.  This team plays great defense and their offense is getting better each week.  This week they travel to Greenville and need to take care of business, while cleaning up any issues before the next four weeks as they take on Madison Central, Murrah, Clinton and Starkville in arguably the toughest stretch in a schedule in the state.

Warren Central 35 Greenville 14

Saltillo at No. 4 Oxford

A key Region 1-5A game is going down Friday night in Oxford as 5-1 Saltillo tangles with the 4-1 Chargers.  This easily could have been the game of the week as both of these teams have high aspirations for 2014.

Oxford dinged Saltillo 31-7 last year, but the Tigers are much improved this year.

Oxford has arguably the most talent in the state and needs everyone to show it on Friday as Pat Byrd’s group will give them all they want this year.

Oxford 21 Saltillo 17

No. 3 Brandon at Forest Hill

Brandon travels across town to region foe Forest Hill this week and the Bulldogs better have their A-game ready to go.  The Patriots are 3-3 this season and a much improved ball club under Mario Lane.  Last week they gave Oak Grove all they wanted, in a 21-14 loss.

The Bulldogs look to get sharp and healthy before the big Petal, Oak Grove, Meridian three game stretch that starts next week.

Brandon 42 Forest Hill 20

No. 2 South Panola at Olive Branch

Just a few short years ago; this game annually was a big piece to the puzzle in north 6A.  Now days, South Panola continues to roll as Olive Branch looks to rebound.  It won’t be this Friday though for the Conquistadors.

South Panola 50 Olive Branch 28

No. 1 Starkville at Northwest Rankin

Jaime Mitchell’s number-one ranked Yellow Jackets head down Highway-25 to take on Tyler Peterson’s Cougars in week seven.  Peterson has done a great job in year one at Northwest, but he still needs time to get the Cougars back to where they expect to be.

Starkville has steamrolled everyone they have played this year and while Peterson’s team won’t back down, the Yellow jackets will be too much on Friday.

Starkville 48 Northwest 17

GAME OF THE WEEK:

No. 7 Oak Grove at Petal

One of the state’s biggest rivalries resumes Friday night as undefeated and defending 6A-champion, Oak Grove travels across town to take on Marcus Boyle’s and the Petal Panthers.

This is always a classic and it should be yet again in 2014.  Oak Grove beat Petal twice last year, once in the regular season, then in the playoffs, on their way to a state championship.

Petal’s lone loss was to Picayune in week two, but has wins over Hattiesburg and Madison Central.

The winner here gets an early leg up in Region3-6A. It should be standing room only at Panther stadium for yet another great ballgame.

Oak Grove 24 Petal 21