The effects of Hurricane Katrina have knocked out all but four prep football games Friday night with one all but postponed.

All games with the Mississippi High School Activities Association were cancelled, and many Miss-Lou schools in the MPSA have also cancelled. Only games with Concordia Parish teams &045; Vidalia, Ferriday and Huntington &045; remain on for Friday with Trinity Episcopal all but cancelled with its contest at Oak Forest.

Several teams have been unable to practice this week as well. Natchez High, scheduled to play Friday night at home against Vicksburg, held a practice Tuesday in preparation for the Gators before school officials got the call from the MHSAA.

The Bulldogs had about 40 &045; roughly half the team &045; out for practice Tuesday.

&uot;We’ll try to work out the rest of this week so our kids are doing something,&uot; Natchez High head coach Lance Reed said. &uot;We talked about everything yesterday. We looked at it as a blessing that we didn’t get affected more.

&uot;We got on the phones to get as many kids to come as we could. A lot of kids still don’t have electricity or phones. We’re getting as many out as we can so we don’t get too far behind.&uot;

MHSAA director Ennis Proctor had all games cancelled after many schools in the southern half of the state suffered severe damage from Katrina. The plan was to push the entire schedule back a week, but nothing was finalized by 7 p.m. Wednesday.

”We want to keep everything on a level playing field,” Proctor told The Clarion-Ledger. ”There is so much devastation in the southern part of the state there’s no way those people can play football.”

The games may just get scratched since few teams &045; if any &045; are playing region games this week. Many teams started last week and won’t get to region games for a few more weeks.

The Bulldogs, who posted a 47-22 win over Port Gibson for their most convincing win since the final game of the 2000 season, will host Jefferson County next week.

&uot;We’ll be coming out working and staying fine-tuned for when we do play,&uot; Reed said. &uot;Now we’ll go into this week getting better and preparing for Jefferson County.&uot;

Cathedral already had an open week this week after opening the season last week against St. Aloysius. Region play begins next week when the Wave hosts Dexter, but head coach Ken Beesley Sr. said he’s trying to get a practice organized for 4 p.m. today.

With the off week, coaches gave the team off until Tuesday. Now with the storm, the team has yet to hold a full practice and school won’t be back in until Tuesday by order of the diocese.

&uot;We’ll hopefully go back and practice (today),&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We’ve got some people who still don’t have electricity. We can’t do anything but running and agility to keep from getting out of shape. If we don’t do anything before Tuesday, it’ll be like starting over.&uot;

The MPSA, meanwhile, is recommending that games not be played but will allow teams to play. Director Les Triplett said this week’s games will be moved back a week and those who play this week will have an open date following the end of the season.

Trinity head coach David King said he’s yet to hear a definitive word from Oak Forest and head coach Jason Brabham. King said his school has offered the Amite, La.-based school to play the game in Natchez and still collect their proper gate.

&uot;I talked to (his assistant),&uot; King said. &uot;They don’t have any power down there at all. It’s a bad situation down there. It doesn’t look like we’re going to play. This is a district game for us, but I don’t know what to do. As bad as this situation is, football is still on the backburner. I feel sort of helpless. It doesn’t look good for this week.&uot;

At WCCA, the Rams have no choice but to cancel its plans Friday night at Tallulah &045; as soon as they make contact with the Trojans. WCCA has been without power and water this week and may be out of power until Monday, head coach Paul Hayles said.

The school’s bus doesn’t have enough diesel to make the trip, and there’s no store in Woodville with electricity to buy more. Coaches have sent water coolers home with players who live in West Feliciana Parish to fill up with water and bring back for the next practice.

&uot;It’s a mess,&uot; Hayles said. &uot;We haven’t been able to get anything done. We tried to practice today, but we were missing five. There’s been a lot of obstacles. I’ll tell you how bad it was on the cell phone &045; Sam (Byrd) is talking to them and is in the middle of saying, ‘We’re not going to be able to play,’ and the cell phone cuts off. It’s crazy.&uot;

Tensas Academy will also not play Friday night against Amite School Center. Chiefs head coach Chris Jacobs said the Rebels were unable to make the trip, and his attempts to reschedule a game with another team off this week were unsuccessful.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.