Aaronyoun Johnson (6) makes a cut in the backfield on Friday when Northeast Lauderdale played at Southeast Lauderdale.

How They Stand:

CLARKDALE:

Week 3: Lost to Forest 26-7

Week 4: @ Enterprise

Record: 0-3 (0-0 Region 5-2A)

LAMAR:

Week 5: BYE

Week 6: vs Jackson Academy

Record: 3-1 (0-0 District 2-5A)

MERIDIAN:

Week 3: Lost to Starkville 42-21

Week 4: vs Laurel

Record: 1-2 (0-0 Region 3-7A)

NORTHEAST LAUDERDALE:

Week 3: Defeated Southeast Lauderdale 20-6

Week 4: @ Forest

Record: 3-0 (0-0 Region 4-4A)

RUSSELL CHRISTIAN:

Week 4: BYE

Week 5: @ Tuscaloosa Christian

Record: 2-1 (2-0 CFA 8-Man)

SOUTHEAST LAUDERDALE:

Week 3: Lost to Northeast Lauderdale 20-6

Week 4: @ Sebastopol

Record: 1-2 (0-0 Region 5-3A)

WEST LAUDERDALE:

Week 3: Defeated Neshoba Central 27-23

Week 4: @ Germantown

Record: 3-0 (0-0 Region 4-4A)

Top 10 Performers:

Anthony Brown, Meridian: 97 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries

Caleb Collins, West Lauderdale: 149 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries

Martrevious Greer, Meridian: 55 receiving yards and a touchdown on three receptions; four total tackles

Daniel Hill, Meridian: 33 passing yards on three completions out of eight attempts; 102 rushing yards on 22 carries

Jayden Johnson, Meridian: six total tackles and one interception

Tim McDonald, West Lauderdale: 17 total tackles and one fumble recovery

Kayden Peoples, West Lauderdale: 49 passing yards on six completions out of 13 attempts; 101 rushing yards and two touchdowns on eight carries

Carson Smith, West Lauderdale: 5 solo tackles, including a tackle for loss and a sack, and two forced fumbles

Dominick Stevens, Meridian: 10 total tackles, including nine solo tackles and a tackle for loss

Javaion Wilson, West Lauderdale: nine total tackles and an interception

Postgame Q&A:

John Douglass – Northeast Lauderdale coach

Q: What did you think of the Tigers tonight?

A: “Gritty bunch of kids. They played hard. I think they got behind the sticks on penalties and things like that on two or three occasions, and that really makes it tough, but they played hard and fought up to the end. We didn’t play our best game I didn’t think, but played good enough at the right times to get it done, so proud of our guys for being 3-0.”

Q: Is there anything about inter-county matchups that make these games more special?

A: “It’s just so much emotion. Anytime there’s a lot of emotion involved in things like this, there tends to be a lot less focus and a lot less attention to detail. You worry about that. I told our guys at halftime, ‘Don’t give this game to them. We don’t want to do that.’ We made enough mistakes and dodged enough bullets to where I thought we were going to be OK, but then we came out in the third quarter and didn’t execute the way we needed to, so it was touch and go there. I do like the way we finished, and like I said, coach Ford and his bunch fought hard.”

Q: What did you think of your running game tonight?

A: “I think there was a lot more on the table, and we had tackles for losses, and we’ve got to get that cleaned up. We just can’t let a defensive tackle run through the A-gap and catch us. That just can’t happen if we’re going to be a good running team, but it was a good running game. It was very efficient and I was pleased.”

Brian Ford – Southeast Lauderdale coach

Q: What did you think of the Trojans tonight?

A: “They’ve got a good football team. They’ve got a lot of kids, they’ve got an experienced coaching staff. We knew it was going to be a tough game. Our kids played hard. We had our opportunities and we needed to capitalize on them, and we just didn’t, but overall I thought it was a really good game, what a rivalry game should be.”

Q: Your defense played them pretty tough tonight, so what did you think of their performance coming off a victory last week?

A: “Other than the one play where we gave up a run on the edge, I thought we bent a lot but we didn’t break a lot. That’s big and that’s improvement, and that’s what we want to do is see positive change each week.”

Q: How do you think Kohl Ethridge played at quarterback after Jelun Ivy went down with an injury?

A: “Kohl hadn’t played football in a while, but I thought he came in and did a good job. We had to make a center change and we got a little rattled in there, but I thought overall he ran the offense efficiently.”