Veteran sportswriter and high school football expert Robert Wilson is doing the Germany Law Firm, PLLC/Mississippi Scoreboard predictions column each week during the high school football season on teams from Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County. Wilson had a 28-2 record (93.3 percent) last week and has a 173-52 record (76.8 percent) this season.
By Robert Wilson
Madison Central (4-3) at Germantown (4-3)
Germantown coach Russell Mitchell has taken his Mavericks football team to several new heights and continued to improve his program since coming to Madison Central from Oak Grove four years ago.
There’s one he would love to break down this week – getting the school’s first football victory over Madison County rival Madison Central.
Madison Central has won all seven meetings between the two programs, including two last season.
Madison Central quarterback Jaiden Johnson completed 11 of 11 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns and ran five times for 137 yards and a TD in a 45-14 victory over Germantown in the MHSAA Class 7A quarterfinals despite not having 1,440-yard rusher Glen Singleton, who was out with an injury.
Madison Central’s Ross Hardin Beavers kicked a 42-yard field goal with three seconds to play for a 31-28 victory over Germantown in the regular season, the closest Germantown had ever come to beating its Madison County rival. Singleton ran for 60 yards late in the game to set up Beavers’ winning kick.
Madison Central also won 36-23 in 2019, 38-6 in 2020, 31-0 in 2021, 35-6 in 2022, 49-0 in 2023. Before 2019, Germantown was in a smaller classification.
Last year’s Madison Central win ended Germantown’s season at 7-5, its best season since joining the largest class.
Madison Central went on to finish 10-3 and reach the semifinals, losing to eventual state champion Tupelo. It was the most wins for Madison Central since the Jaguars won the state championship and finished 13-1 in 2021 in coach Toby Collums’ first season in Madison.
For Germantown to get its historic victory this Friday night, the Mavericks must recover from last week’s tough loss at Oxford when they led by 14 points in the fourth quarter only to watch Oxford rally to tie the game then win 43-42 in double overtime. Oxford sophomore quarterback Knox Kiffin – son of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin – led the comeback. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 134 yards and one TD and passed for the winning two-point conversion.
Madison Central lost to Oxford 16-14 two weeks ago, but bounced back with a 45-14 win over Murrah last week.
Both Madison Central and Germantown are 1-1 in MHSAA Class 7A, Region 2 play and tied with Starkville for second place behind 2-0 Oxford in the region standings. The top four teams go to the playoffs and the top two teams play at home in the first round.
Both starting quarterbacks in the game – Germantown senior King White and Madison Central sophomore Tripp Smith – have been Junction Deli/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Players of the Week this season.
White has passed for 1,668 yards and 15 TDs with only one interception this season, including when he completed 21 of 28 passes (75 percent) for a career-high 408 yards and four TDs and had nine carries for 70 yards in a 45-28 victory over Starkville and was named Player of the Week.
Smith has passed for 1,133 yards and nine TDs this season, including when he completed 21 of 28 passes (75 percent) for 277 yards and three TDs and had 10 carries for 25 yards to Madison Central to a come from behind, 32-24 victory over Warren Central and was named Player of the Week.
The highest rated senior in the game is Germantown wide receiver and Tulane commitment Keyshawn Coleman, who is rated No. 23 in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports. He has caught 38 passes for 533 yards and five TDs and has an 25.7-yard average on 12 kickoff returns this season.
The highest rated junior in the game is Madison Central running back Mikel Stephen, who is rated No. 19 in Mississippi and the No. 49 running back in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports. He has 390 yards and four TDs this season. Stephen has 10 Division I offers, including SEC offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma.
Germantown has scored more than 40 points in five consecutive games. The Mavs won’t make to 40 this week.
Madison Central’s continues its unbeaten streak against Germantown.
Madison Central 31, Germantown 28
Leake Academy (7-1) at Tri-County Academy (7-1)
Tri-County and Leake are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in MAIS Class 3A by MaxPreps.
Both teams are undefeated with the exception of having to play two of the Big 4 of the MAIS.
Tri-County lost at Jackson Prep and Leake lost to Jackson Academy.
Tri-County Academy has had more success in football in its class than any other team in Mississippi for the past four seasons.
The Rebels have won three state championships and one state runner-up finish in the past four years.
Tri-County has won its last 26 of the last 27 games and 32 of its last 33 MAIS games. The Rebels have a remarkable 58-5 record – a 92.1 winning percentage – in the last five years.
Tri-County coach Philip Wasson has won five state championships (three at Tri-County and two at Washington School) and has played in seven championship games in 20 career seasons.
Leake has won one state title when the Rebels finished 13-0 in 2020. They have four state runner-up finishes (1974, 1975, 2010 and last season).
Leake coach Brian Pickens has a 185-96 record in 24 seasons at Leake.
Leake senior quarterback George Wilcox has one of the best arms in Mississippi. He has thrown for 1,946 yards (fifth best in Mississippi, according to MaxPreps) with 25 TDs and only five interceptions. He passed for a Mississippi-best 3,623 yards and 41 TDs last season as a junior. Wilcox threw for a career-high 542 yards and nine TDs (one short of the Mississippi record) in a win over Silliman, La., two years ago as a sophomore.
Junior Easton Page (37 catches for 893 yards and 13 TDs) and junior Gage Warren (29 catches for 605 yards and eight TDs) are Wilcox’s top targets.
Tri-County’s defense is led by a pair of MAIS All-State defensive ends, 2024 MAIS Class 4A Player of the Year, junior Crews Albritton, and senior Bryce Brooks.
Cooper Johnson is Tri-County’s new quarterback after Bryce Warriner graduated this past year. Warriner passed for 5,964 yards and 71 touchdowns and ran for 1,271 yards and 18 TDs in his outstanding career, 1,366 yards and 15 TDs last season and is playing at East Central Community College this season.
The teams have only met eight times over the past 55 seasons. Leake leads the series 6-2 and has won the last five times. The last meeting was in 2014 with a Leake 34-14 victory. Tri-County hasn’t won since a 26-6 win in 1994.
Wilcox will be the difference between these two talented teams, who might see another again in the 3A playoffs.
LEAKE 28, TRI-COUNTY 21
In other games (winning team in CAPS):
Canton (3-4) at RIDGELAND (6-1), Thursday
Raymond (2-6) at MORTON (4-3), Thursday
Brandon (3-4) at OAK GROVE (5-3)
CALLAWAY (4-4) at Greenville (4-3)
FOREST (6-2) at Richland (5-3)
Forest Hill (1-7) at WEST JONES (6-2)
HOLMES COUNTY CENTRAL (5-3) at Provine (2-6), Hughes Field
Jim Hill (1-7) at TERRY (6-1)
LANIER (8-0) at Florence (3-4)
McLaurin (0-8) at JEFFERSON DAVIS COUNTY (2-5)
Meridian (2-5) at NORTHWEST RANKIN (4-3)
Murrah (1-7) at STARKVILLE (5-2)
Newton (1-7) at PUCKETT (1-7)
OXFORD (6-1) at Clinton (4-3)
Pearl (2-5) at PETAL (6-2)
Pelahatchie (3-5) at SCOTT CENTRAL (2-6)
Pisgah (5-3) at LAKE (5-3)
St. Andrew’s (2-6) at UNION (8-0)
Velma Jackson (4-4) at EAST WEBSTER (7-1)
Brookhaven Academy (6-2) at MADISON-RIDGELAND ACADEMY (7-1)
CANTON ACADEMY (2-6) at Discovery Christian (1-7)
Christ Covenant (2-6) at PORTER’S CHAPEL (4-5)
Clinton Christian (2-6) at ADAMS COUNTY CHRISTIAN (6-3)
HARTFIELD ACADEMY (3-5) at East Rankin Academy (6-3)
JACKSON ACADEMY (7-1) at Bayou Academy (4-4)
JACKSON PREP (5-4) at Silliman, La. (5-3)
Madison St. Joseph (1-7) at PILLOW ACADEMY (3-6)
Riverdale, La. (1-6) at CENTRAL HINDS ACADEMY (5-4)
