MEADVILLE — The MHSAA Class 3A playoffs might not officially begin until next week, but for Franklin County and Jefferson County, they start tonight.

That’s because the winner of tonight’s game between the Bulldogs and the Tigers will advance to the playoffs, while the loser faces the possibility of ending its season.

The situation is more dire for Jefferson County (4-4, 1-3), which needs a win and a Wilkinson County loss to Tylertown to make the playoffs.

“It seems like a tough spot to be in, but like I told my team, when you look at it, you’ve got eight regions in 3A, and four of your bottom teams are out of contention going into this week,” Jefferson County coach James Herrington said. “That’s 16 teams that are already out and have no chance (to make the playoffs). Any one of those teams would trade us for the spot we’re in with playing for a chance. We’ve got a lot to play for.”

Franklin County (4-6, 2-2) is in a better spot. Even if the Bulldogs lose, they will still make the playoffs if Wilkinson County loses to Tylertown, unless Franklin County loses by 37 or more points. If that happened, the Bulldogs would be out regardless of the outcome of the Wilkinson County, Tylertown game.

“If we win, we get third place (in the region). We can’t do any better than that,” Franklin County coach Ricky O’Quinn said. “But regardless of seeding, when you’re in the playoffs, you start over. We’ll be satisfied with third. From the way we started the year to the way we finished, we feel we got better every game. We’re excited about the possibility of being in the playoffs.”

Franklin County is coming off an emotional 15-14 loss to Tylertown last week, but O’Quinn said his players have recovered nicely from that defeat.

“We demand for our guys to bounce back each game,” O’Quinn said. “We’ve been doing it from the start of the year. We tell them to get better each game, don’t live on the last game and just worry about the next one. I think it has helped us get over that loss on Friday.”

In fact, O’Quinn said the one-point loss to the No. 5 ranked Chiefs could be a confidence-booster for his players.

“Tylertown is ranked, and our guys competed and we actually had the game won,” O’Quinn said. “They made one big play and beat us. It seems like we came from that game confident we can match up with anyone else in 3A.”

Jefferson County, meanwhile, is looking for answers after losing yet another close game last week.

The Tigers have had trouble closing games out all season, losing to Wilkinson County on a touchdown in the final minute and blowing a fourth-quarter lead against Hazlehurst last week in a 37-26 loss.

“We’ve been in the lead in all the games we’ve lost, but for some reason or another, the teams have gotten the edge on us late in the games,” Herrington said. “But I told our kids that Friday night, all the chips are down. We’ve got to play 48 minutes (tonight), and maybe more.”

But he knows that won’t be easy against the physical Bulldogs.

“Franklin County is going to come out and try to impose their will on you,” Herrington said. “We’ve got to play mistake-free football and bring it to them from the start. With playing there in a hostile environment, we don’t need a back-and-forth game. We need to come out and jump on them early.”