Meridian High School head coach Larry Weems said having a bye week is a necessity for him with the 12-week regular season schedule in MHSAA.

The Wildcats (2-2) had a week off last week in preparation for the opening of their regional schedule Friday, when Meridian travels to Jim Hill High School. Weems said he had no hesitation in giving his team a break when he filled out the schedule.

“If I’d have wanted another game under my belt, I’d have scheduled one, because we have that option,” Weems said. “Actually, I prefer not even having a bye week. We play too many games. I wish we had 10-game regular seasons where we played 10 in a row and started the playoffs, period. But given the format we have, I don’t want to play 12 games; I think 10 is enough. I think 12 is too many, so we play 11 and have a bye week.”

As to what his team accomplished in its open week, Weems said he won’t know for sure until they return to the playing field.

“I guess we’ll know in time,” Weems said. “There are some things we worked on that we hope helps us, but never get to measure that until you go into a situation (in a game) where you can evaluate it. I hope we took advantage of the time and didn’t waste it.”

With the area portion of the season beginning, Weems said he’s reminded his players of the greater sense of urgency from here on out, since it will determine playoff seedings. And that focus begins with Jim Hill.

“They have some good, talented athletes,” Weems said. “They have enough athleticism where, if you don’t do things smartly and line up correctly and take care of your assignments, you put yourself at risk of giving up big plays and put yourself in jeopardy of being able to win the game.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday.

MORE OF THE SAME FOR CLARKDALE

Coming off a 20-15 loss to Richton High School last week, Clarkdale High School head coach Wes Roy said his next opponent, St. Andrew’s Episcopal, presents more of the same challenges his team has faced in recent weeks.

“It’s mostly the same stuff we see every week — they’re a good, hard-nosed, well-coached bunch that will come in and get after you,” Roy said.

The Bulldogs (1-4) have just one week to tune up before the regional portion of the schedule begins, which is all the more reason to get a win Friday night, Roy said.

“Obviously, you want to go into district healthy and with some momentum, and the best way to do that is to be successful this Friday night,” Roy said.

At the same time, Roy said his approach to the season isn’t likely to change too drastically when the area games start getting played.

“We take it one Friday at a time, and that’s always been our approach,” Roy said. “The next game is the most important one. When you get into district, you might be able to shift your focus somewhat, since there are still goals you can reach, but for the most part, we’re just keeping it one game at a time.”

Kickoff is at 7 Friday night at Clarkdale.

PANTHERS SNAP LOSING STREAK

Steve Bynum didn’t want his team to go 0-4 for the second year in a row.

The Quitman High School head coach recalled beginning the 2013 season 0-4, including a 19-6 loss to Taylorsville High School, the Panthers’ opponent this past Friday. So when Quitman pulled off a 27-26 victory against the strong Class 2A team, Bynum said it was a huge relief.

“Even though they’re a 2A powerhouse, it’s still tough on your psyching losing to a 2A team with us being a 4A school, so we really wanted to have a good showing,” Bynum said.

After jumping out to a 20-6 lead at the half, Quitman allowed Taylorsville to come back and actually go ahead with four minutes remaining in the game. But the Panthers put together a game-winning drive and forced a four-and-out on the ensuing Taylorsville possession to improve to 1-3 on the year.

“It was the first time all year we’d been in a situation with these young kids where we were actually ahead, and we didn’t handle it very well,” Bynum said. “But it was a great overall team effort (being able to win).”

Now, Quitman will host Bay Springs High School Friday as its final non-region game of the season.

“They went to the Wing T this year, and Coach (Dan) Brady wants to stay in that,” Bynum said. “They have one of the best players in the state in Mississippi State quarterback commit Jonas Spivey, so they will get into some spread and try to run the quarterback and throw.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday.