Fayette — The Jefferson County High School football team has learned to forgive, but they refuse to forget.

After last week’s crushing 49-8 defeat against Natchez High School, Jefferson County head coach James Herrington said his team kept a positive mindset as they move forward in their season.

“Everyone came out with a good attitude and put the last game behind them,” he said. “It’s always good to get over that and move on to the next one.”

But that doesn’t mean they won’t have a chip on their shoulder come Friday against another rival team, Port Gibson.

“It’s a rivalry game just as much as Natchez was,” Herington said. “It gives us motivation to go out and try to avenge our loss last week.”

Herrington said they must step up in every aspect of the game if they don’t want to start their season on a 0-3 slump. Getting running back Arthur Norton back into the mix Friday is crucial, Herrington said.

“He only played two quarters last week as he was coming back from an injury, but we’re looking for him to play all four quarters Friday,” he said.

Franklin County High School

MEADVILLE — Franklin County High School head coach Chris Calcote managed to find several positives in last week’s loss to North Pike.

He found the positives by seeing the Bulldogs’ weak spots and working on them extensively throughout the week as the team prepares for McComb.

“We’ve got to play better offensively and control the ball,” he said. “Defensively, we can’t give up the big plays and we can’t get beat or miss tackles.”

Calcote is hoping to put some key players back in their right position this week as well.

“Our No. 1 quarterback (Malik Moore) has been hurt since August,” Calcote said. “He played a few snaps last week, but we’re hoping he gets back out there so we can put our full back (Chris Robinson) back in his spot from the quarterback position.”

As it is still early in the season, Calcote hopes to snap things back into shape against McComb.

Wilkinson County High School

WOODVILLE — There aren’t many changes Wildcats head coach Kenneth Brown said he can make, at least not with X’s and O’s.

The differences Brown wants to see with his Wildcats are things he can’t teach in drills, he said.

“We thought about shuffling some players around, but right now they need to get more mentally tough and realize they need to put themselves in a position to make plays,” he said.

In last week’s loss to Louisville, Brown said he saw a lot of good things playing against a powerhouse program, but Louisville is just one of many tough games the Wildcats have on their schedule.

Brown said his team must adapt to playing a different type of game.

“We played a playoff-caliber team,” Brown said. “When you play a team like that, the game is a little bit faster. We have to learn to pick up the pace a little.”

Despite the 30-12 loss, Brown has a great level of confidence in his players as they head to Amite County Friday hoping to extend their record to 2-1.

“It’s a rivalry game for us,” he said. “And I think we match up pretty well. We just have to go out and execute and make plays.”