Veteran sportswriter and high school football expert Robert Wilson is doing the Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard predictions column each week during the high school football season on teams from Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County. Wilson had a 5-1 record (83.3 percent) last week and has an 271-58 record (82.4 percent) this season. 

Simmons (12-0) at Velma Jackson (11-1), Friday, 7 p.m. (keep with live scoring at VJ_athletics on twitter)

Velma Jackson has won 11 straight games since a 45-28 loss to MHSAA Class 5A Canton in the season opener.

The Falcons won their first 13 games before a 53-49 loss to Biggersville in the MHSAA Class 1A state championship game last season.

Velma Jackson and ninth-year head coach Bernard Euell want to get back to the championship game and have a shot at the first football state title in school history.

Undefeated Simmons stands in its way.

       This is Velma Jackson’s third time to make it to the semifinals, 2016, last year and this year.

       Velma Jackson’s star player is 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior running back-tight end-defensive end and Mississippi State commitment Tyshun Willis. He is rated the No. 7 player in Mississippi and the No. 20 edge rusher in the country in the Class of 2025 by 247 Composite. In addition to MSU, Willis has Division I offers from Ole Miss, Jackson State, Missouri, Baylor, and Arkansas State.

       Willis has 742 rushing yards, an average of 17.3 yards per carry, and nine TDs, caught 20 passes for 477 yards, 19.9 yards per catch, and seven TDs, averaged 48.4 yards on nine kickoff returns this season. In addition, he has 55 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, 5 fumble recoveries (all for TDs), and three forced fumbles. 

       Willis’ younger brother, sophomore quarterback Trevon Willis, has completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 1,325 yards and 15 TDs without an interception. He has also ran for 888 yards, 9 yards per carry, and 15 TDs.

       Junior Gredonivan Smith leads Velma Jackson with 94 tackles. Sophomore Michael Shearill has 59 tackles. 

       Running back Gavin Griffin, last year’s PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Player of the Year, scored 314 points last season (Mississippi’s all-time single season leader in points) and led Velma Jackson to its state runner-up finish.

       He gained 2,096 yards on 185 carries – an average of 11.3 yards per carry – and scored 38 rushing touchdowns. He had career-high 316 yards and six TDs and a pair of 2-point conversions in the state championship game. Griffin, now playing at East Mississippi Community College, was named the Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 1A Mr. Football.

       Willis – this year’s Class 1A Mr. Football – leads Velma Jackson to another state title game.

       Velma Jackson 28, Simmons 21.

In other games:

Madison Central (10-2) at Tupelo (12-0)

Brandon (11-1) at Ocean Springs (8-4)