FERRIDAY — Even though the Huntington Hounds are ranked No. 2 in the Clarion-Ledger’s preseason Class A poll, they will take nothing for granted when they host the Class AA Central Private Rebels Friday at 7 p.m.

Central Private defeated both Silliman and Class AA No. 5 Oak Forest 6-0 in a jamboree. And Hounds head coach Chad Harkins saw first hand what to expect from the Rebels.

“They got after it in that jamboree,” Harkins said. “They have some big linemen. A good, fast quarterback. A good tailback. They’re going to be tough. We’re trying to get our game plan in to see if we can slow down Central Private.”

Even though the Rebels don’t throw the ball very much, their quarterback is, as Harkins also described, “a slipper guy” who will be tough to tackle, as will their tailback.

Harkins hopes that his team will do a better job of tackling and also on covering receivers than it did at the Copiah Jamboree last week.

“I hope our line can match their line and have some success. Dude Harrell has had a good summer. Our defensive line’s been playing well. I don’t know if we can stop them, but I hop we can slow them down.”

At practice, Huntington has been working on fundamentals, such as getting its offense in sync and working on timing. The Hounds have also been working on their own passing game with the offense being led by senior wingback Jody Cottongin and freshman quarterback Chuck Bowie.

But as Harkins noted, Central Private’s defense should expect to see both Bowie and Cottongin under center Friday night.

“Chuck’s been doing a good job. He’s been learning our offense. He’s been running the ball pretty well,” Harkins said. “So hopefully he’ll keep maturing as the year goes on. It’s always tough when you have to put a young kid in there. But he sits right with the offensive scheme. I look for some good things out of him this year.”

If Huntington looks to keep Central Private’s offense off the field, it needs to look no further than the running game led by Cottongin, who had 1,400 yards rushing as a junior last year.

“We’ve tried to control the clock with our running game,” Harkins said. “Jody will definitely be a big part of that. We hope to keep them off the field.”