Photo by Robert Smith
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 20-6 record (76.9 percent) last week and has a 29-7 record (80.5 percent) this season.
By Robert Wilson
Hartfield Academy (2-0) at MRA (1-1)
The first meeting between the MAIS Big 4 (Hartfield, MRA, Jackson Academy and Jackson Prep) takes place Friday night at Madison-Ridgeland Academy in Madison.
Hartfield comes in after a surprising victory at defending MHSAA Class 4A state champion Columbia High. The Hawks won 42-28 and ended Columbia’s 15-game winning streak. The Hawks defeated Washington 41-13 in the season opener.
Hartfield senior quarterback Ethan Elliott had a big night against Columbia. He completed 8 of 18 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown had six carries for 96 yards and two TDs. He completed a 69-yard TD pass to Dylan Harris and ran for TDs of 50 and 9 yards. Freshman running back Kamani Azagani had 24 carries for 101 yards and two TDs. Sophomore running back Ethan Horner had 11 carries for 84 yards and one TD. Senior linebacker Logan Hall had a team–high nine tackles. Senior defensive back Owen Stroh had one interception and one fumble recovery. Junior defensive lineman Kevin Stone had five tackle, one sack and two hurries.
MRA also had a road win over a MHSAA team last week, with a 30-27 victory at Class 3A Jefferson Davis County and bounced back from a 29-14 loss at Tennessee public school power Ravenwood in the season opener.
Playing without senior running back Colson O’Cain (out with an ankle injury), MRA senior quarterback Austin Banks completed 22 of 33 passes for 258 yards and four TDs and has 486 yards (fifth best in Mississippi by MaxPreps) and six TDs this season. Senior wide receiver Jack Dalton caught 10 passes for 132 yards and two TDs and has 22 catches for 259 yards this season (fourth best in Mississippi). Junior Daniel Perkins had a team-high eight tackles, junior defensive lineman Brady Bosarge had two sacks, and junior linebacker Biven Patterson and junior defensive back Brett Tyler had one interception each.
MRA won last year’s meeting 49-21 as the Patriots produced 303 rushing yards, led by O’Cain with 140 yards and five TDs and a two-point conversion.
Both teams lost important players to graduation. MRA lost talented quarterback Samuel Stockett and one of the most sure-handed receiver groups in Mississippi, led by Case Thomas (now playing at Ole Miss) and Will Bizot (now playing baseball at Holmes Community College). Hartfield lost All-American wide receiver-defensive back-return specialist Bralan Womack (now playing at Mississippi State), and running back-linebacker KD Catchings (now playing at Michigan).
MRA has not won a state championship since 2021 when it won three in row. Hartfield won two state titles in row in 2023 and 2024 and reached the championship game in a loss to Jackson Academy last season.
MRA coach Herbert Davis has won 256 games and five state championships (three at MRA, two at Brookhaven Academy and one at Pillow Academy) as he starts his 30th season as a head coach. He is the only football coach in Mississippi history to take five schools (MRA, Brookhaven Academy, Pillow Academy, Heritage Academy and Winston Academy) to state championship games. Davis has won 122 games in 13 seasons at MRA.
Hartfield coach Craig Bowman has 60 wins in his seventh season at Hartfield.
Both have been named Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Coach of the Year – Davis in 2019 when he led MRA to a 12-2 record and a state championship and Bowman in 2023 when he led Hartfield to a 15-0 record and its first state title in school history.
MRA returns nine starters from last year’s 8-4 team, which played the toughest schedule in school history and lost to eventual champion Jackson Academy in the MAIS Class 4A, Division I semifinals.
Hartfield returns 14 starters from lsat year’s 6-6 team, which lost to Jackson Prep in the semifinals.
MRA’s 6-2, 270-pound offensive lineman Caleb Unger is the highest rated player in the game. He is rated as the No. 14 player in Mississippi and the No. 34 interior offensive lineman in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports.
He was a first-team offensive lineman on the 2025 Mississippi Scoreboard All Metro Jackson team and a member of this year’s Taste Restaurant/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team.
Unger has 23 Division I offers, including Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, and LSU.
Hartfield also has a lineman with a Division I offer in 6-3, 335-pound junior Jaylen Williams, who has an offer from Jacksonville (Ala.) State.
Hartfield 28, MRA 24.
Madison Central (1-0) at Brandon (0-1)
First-year Brandon head coach Eugene Clinton – who replaced Lance Pogue in midseason last year as interim coach and earned the permanent title in the offseason – is searching for his first victory as the head coach.
Clinton’s official debut as head coach was rough, losing 38-14 at Tupelo, ranked No. 1 in MHSAA Class 7A and No. 1 in Mississippi by MaxPreps.
Clinton guided the Bulldogs to a 4-2 record last season after he took over for Pogue, including wins over Ocean Springs and Oak Grove in the MHSAA Class 7A playoffs before losing to eventual champion Gulfport in the semifinals.
The former Provine High and Mississippi State defensive back was a 10-year assistant coach at Brandon and assistant coach at Provine for eight seasons before coming to Brandon.
Brandon – ranked No. 8 in MHSAA Class 7A and No. 14 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – returns eight starters from last year’s 7-6 team.
Senior running back and Michigan commitment Tyson Robinson, who is rated the No. 10 player in Mississippi and the No. 20 running back in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports, is back at full strength after being injured most of last season.
Junior linebacker Travion Washington, rated the No. 8 player in Mississippi and No. 21 linebacker in the country in the Class of 2028 by 247 Sports, has 33 Division I offers, including Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Jackson State, and 10 other SEC schools.
Senior quarterback and Illinois commitment Sladen Slack is rated the No. 29 player in Mississippi and the No. 69 quarterback in the country.
In addition, Brandon picked up four talented players from three teams in the MAIS Big 4, SEC prospect and junior wide receiver Josh Parker and SEC prospect and junior defensive back Kam Roberts, both from Jackson Prep, senior running back Kingston Mays from Jackson Academy, and senior defensive back Logan Drummond from Hartfield Academy.
Parker is rated the No. 4 player in Mississippi and No. 20 wide receiver in the country in the Class of 2028. Roberts is rated the No. 11 player in Mississippi and the No. 54 cornerback in the country in the Class of 2028. Mays is rated as the No. 40 player in Mississippi in the Class of 2027. Drummond was one of Hartfield’s top defensive players last season and led the team with seven pass breakups.
Madison Central might not have as much talent as Tupelo, but the Jaguars expect to-have a good season. They return 11 starters from last year’s 6-5 team, including senior linebacker and Western Kentucky commitment Corey Wiggins, a member of the Taste Restaurant/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team.
Wiggins had 127 tackles, 9 for loss, 5 sacks, 2 pass breakups and 1 caused fumble last season as a junior.
In addition to Western Kentucky, Wiggins has Division I offers from Southern Miss, Jackson State, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Army, Cincinnati, Dartmouth, East Carolina, Jacksonville State, Middle Tennessee State, Navy, North Alabama, Southern University, South Alabama, Tulsa, and Troy.
Wiggins got off to a great start in Madison Central’s 17-7 victory over Pearl last week in the season opener with a team-high 17 tackles. 2 tackles for loss, and 2 pass breakups.
Madison Central coach Toby Collums – who led the Jaguars to a state title in his first year at the school in 2021 – has won 123 games in his 16-year coaching career, 46 in six seasons at Madison Central, 46 wins in six seasons at Northwest Rankin and 31 wins in four seasons at Itawamba AHS. Collums was named the Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Coach of the Year in 2020 in his last season at Northwest Rankin.
Both Brandon and Madison Central each lost one of its best returning starters to other schools this summer.
Senior wide receiver-defensive back Tre McQueen – the No. 34 ranked player in Mississippi in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports and one of the top two-sport athletes in the state – transferred from Brandon to MHSAA Class 6A power Hattiesburg High to join his father, Ze McQueen, who was named head baseball coach. Tre McQueen has committed to Louisiana Tech in baseball, and has seven Division I offers in football.
Senior running back and Duke commitment Mikel Stephen transferred from Madison Central to Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, ranked No. 11 in Tennessee. Stephen is rated as the No. 41 player in Tennessee and has offers from 15 other schools, including seven from the SEC and national power Ohio State. Stephen led Madison Central with 875 yards and eight TDs last season.
Madison Central 28, Brandon 14
In other games (winning team in bold):
Canton (1-0) at Terry (1-0), Thursday
Port Gibson (1-0) at Jim Hill (1-0), Thursday, South Jackson Field
Ridgeland (0-1) at Provine (0-1), Thursday, Hughes Field
Bogue Chitto (0-1) at Pisgah (0-1)
Christ Covenant (2-0) at Delta Streets (0-3)
Columbia Academy (2-0) at Central Hinds (2-0)
Clinton (0-1) at Northwest Rankin (0-1)
Crystal Springs (0-1) at Raymond (0-1)
Enterprise-Lincoln (1-0) at Pelahatchie (1-0)
Germantown (1-0) at Oak Grove (0-1)
Indianola Academy (2-0) at Canton Academy (1-1)
Jackson Academy (2-0) at Picayune (0-1)
Jackson Prep (2-0) at Copiah Academy (2-0)\
Kosciusko (1-0) at Florence (0-1)
Madison St. Joseph (0-2) at Tri-County Academy (1-0)
McLaurin (1-0) at Puckett (0-1)
Moss Point (0-1) at Lanier (1-0), North Jackson Field
Mt. Zion Christian (0-1) at Discovery (3-0)
Murrah (0-1) at Callaway (1-0), Hughes Field
Park Place Christian (1-0) at Amite School Center (0-2)
Pearl (0-1) at Warren Central (1-0)
Richland (1-0) at Vancleave (0-1)
St. Andrew’s (0-1) at Ethel (0-1)
Wayne County (0-1) at Forest Hill (0-1), South Jackson Field
Yazoo County (1-0) at Velma Jackson (0-1)
