NATCHEZ &045; With all the preparation and hours watching film that will go into this game, Adams Christian head coach Bobby Marks knows what his team will have to do.

Dig deep in the playbook. Maybe even dust off the old Notre Dame box.

When his Rebels meet Copiah Academy in Gallman Friday night in a contest that may well determine who wins District 3-AA, there shouldn’t be any secrets left by kickoff.

Both teams have stuck with a power game this season and may do that Friday as MPSA schools in the Miss-Lou go into Week 6.

Or maybe not.

&uot;We’ve got some other stuff,&uot; Marks said. &uot;I imagine you’ll see a lot of (box) Friday. You’ve got people faking and motioning &045; it’s hard to find the ball sometimes. We’ve been working on it every day. We probably spend 20 minutes every day even though we only ran two plays at Centreville and four at Huntington.

&uot;I think everybody knows I’m an old box man. You don’t hide too much from other people. But it’s good to have it.&uot;

Everything may come out Friday night between those two teams. Copiah may be one of the most improved teams in Class AA this season and are off to a 4-0 start following a 10-0 win over Central Hinds.

Adams, too, is 4-0. The Rebels won’t play Central Hinds for another three weeks, but everyone knows this one is big.

&uot;It’s going to be a big, big game,&uot; Marks said. &uot;We’ll go over there, play hard and do our best and see what we can do. Against Brookhaven they scored the first four times they got the ball and led 28-0, and we left and came back to Natchez. They’ve got one back who can fly and another who has good speed. They really impressed me.&uot;

It’s perhaps the biggest game in recent seasons for the Colonels, who lost at Adams Christian last season 24-0.

&uot;There’s a lot of excitement, and that’s a big concern for us,&uot; Copiah head coach Mitch Mitchell said. &uot;We’ve struggled the last couple of years. We don’t know how we’ll handle this excitement. We’re in a lot different situation than we normally are.

&uot;We feel like we’re a better team than we have been in the last couple of years. We may have caught a couple of breaks against Central Hinds.&uot;

The Colonels’ defense may be the biggest worry for the Rebels. Copiah shut out their last two opponents &045; a 58-0 win last week over Amite following the win over Central Hinds &045; and have allowed 19 points through four games.

Compounding the problem is the status of speedy Cole Bradford, who did not suit up last week against Huntington and remains uncertain for Friday.

&uot;We don’t know if he’s going to play this week or not,&uot; Marks said. &uot;He’s limping. If we can get back just for defense, that will help. But they’ve got a real good defensive line. They’ll probably be a little bit bigger than us. Most of them are about our size &045; 230 or 235 &045; but we’re not as big as everybody thinks we are. We’ve got a 180-pound center.&uot;

Yet the Rebels will come with what’s worked so far with their power game out of the T formation. Brock Vines continues to improve out of one of the halfback spots, while David New and Lee Dellinger have produced as well.

They may be the biggest team the Colonels have faced.

&uot;I don’t know if we’re good enough to play with Adams,&uot; Mitchell said. &uot;Their running backs are so big. That’s going to be tough. We’re not a very big team across the front. We probably don’t average 200 pounds. We’ve got decent speed. We’re not super fast, but we’re OK.&uot;

Tri-County at Trinity

NATCHEZ &045; With the schedule the way it is, there probably won’t be a bigger non-district game for the Saints this season. After this it’s back to 4-AA play with Centreville, Columbia, Bowling Green and Brookhaven Academy.

Those games will go a long ways toward their goal of making the playoffs. This one they hope can put the team in position.

&uot;Our first goal of the season was to have a winning season,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;At 3-1, it could be a big step toward getting that goal established. I tell our kids every game is a playoff game from here on out. We’ll have four conference games in a row. Tri-County is a quality opponent, and they’re used to winning football games. We certainly will have our hands full.&uot;

If there’s reason for everyone to have a good deal of confidence now, it’s because of that win Friday at Prairie View. The Saints went into a tough environment and pulled out a 25-6 win thanks to 203 yards and two touchdowns from Stevan Ridley.

It may have been the junior’s first breakout game this season. He also threw two touchdown passes to Kris Ford.

&uot;Stevan was extremely focused,&uot; King said. &uot;I think our kids have really tried to help the new players in their roles, and they’ll be leaving us in two weeks. It’s been sort of a weird feeling the last two weeks. But I think Stevan made amends from the mishap in the second half of the Silliman game, came out focused and ran the ball hard.&uot;

Huntington at Tallulah

FERRIDAY, La. &045; The Hounds’ first loss of 2005 last week didn’t send any momentum crashing down.

Shoot, at times they played and moved the ball as the offense keeps improving each week in the double-wing, double-tight set. It was a good confidence booster heading into this week as the Hounds return to District 7-A play against the Trojans.

&uot;I think they played pretty well and played hard,&uot; Huntington head coach Chad Harkins said. &uot;We got beat, but you know we did improve. I don’t think it’s going to hurt us. I think it was good for us. I think we got some good things out of it that’s going to help us down the road.&uot;

The offense moved the ball but just couldn’t punch it in against the Rebels, Harkins said. One drive right before half and one right after halftime were productive but didn’t net six points.

&uot;If we get them in, it’s 21-14,&uot; he said. &uot;Defensively, I think we held them to 200-something yards, and that’s lower than what they’ve been held to.&uot;

The Hounds will go up against a Tallulah team that’s struggling in the standings but have played solid competition.

Franklin Academy at Tensas

ST. JOSEPH, La. &045; Things haven’t clicked on all cylinders yet offensively for the Chiefs, and they received another blow when speedy receiver Ryan Borsch suffered a back injury against Briarfield and may be lost for the year.

Throw in a sophomore quarterback and inexperience at other spots, and the offense has had its struggles with inconsistency. It all made that loss two weeks ago to Briarfield tough to swallow &045; and losing on the game’s final play added insult to injury.

&uot;It was just turnovers,&uot; TA head coach Chris Jacobs said. &uot;The game-winner came off a fumble at midfield with a minute to go. And it was really pathetic on that last play. We’ve been playing well, but we’re playing some good opponents and playing a lot of sophomores.

&uot;I don’t care how good they are &045; they’re lining up against juniors and seniors. They’re getting better, but that’s where some of the inconsistency lies. To beat the teams we’ve been playing, we’ve got to get everybody at that level.&uot;

Union at WCCA

WOODVILLE &045; The Rams survived a brutal non-district schedule and will enter District 6-A action at home Friday.

Bowling Green at Centreville

CENTREVILLE &045; The Tigers can make things interesting in the District 4-AA race Friday night with a win over a good Bowling Green team.