DeSoto County Football Preview: A County of Unbeatens, a 72nd Grudge Match and One Empty Friday
FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL | DeSoto County, Mississippi
Three DeSoto County teams take unbeaten records into tonight. Olive Branch and Horn Lake renew the county’s oldest rivalry. And the Jaguars, for one night, have nowhere to be.
HERNANDO, Miss. — There is a particular kind of September Friday in DeSoto County when the schedule lines up just right: seven kickoffs, all at 7 p.m., strung from Lake Cormorant’s flatland out toward the Marshall County line, and a county that has spent two weeks measuring itself against Memphis city schools and Delta powers finally turning to look at itself.
Tonight is that Friday.
The county’s nine varsity programs are a combined 10-9 through two weeks — 10-6 if you set aside Northpoint Christian, which drew the meanest three-game opening stretch in the area. Three teams are unbeaten. Two of them, Lake Cormorant and Center Hill, are unbeaten in the same 6A region. The third, Hernando, has outscored two Memphis opponents 104-7 and still sits 60th in the MaxPreps Mississippi rankings, which tells you exactly how the computers feel about Overton and Ridgeway.
And then there is the structural fact that shapes everything about football here: five of the six teams in MHSAA Class 7A, Region 1 are DeSoto County schools — DeSoto Central, Hernando, Horn Lake, Lewisburg and Southaven, with Tupelo the lone outsider. Three more — Center Hill, Lake Cormorant and Olive Branch — sit together in 6A Region 1. The region races that begin next month are, functionally, a county tournament. Everything before that is an audition.
Here is what to watch.
THE MARQUEE
Olive Branch (1-1) at Horn Lake (0-2) — 7 p.m.
They have played 71 times. Tonight is the 72nd, and it remains the longest continuously running rivalry either program has.
Olive Branch owns it historically — 46-23-2, a .667 clip — but Horn Lake owns the recent memory, having taken last year’s meeting 32-8. Hold onto that result, because almost nothing else about Horn Lake’s 2026 has gone right.
The Eagles are 0-2 and have not yet played a home game. They fell 23-16 in overtime at Center Hill in the opener, then were handled 35-7 at Collierville. Twenty-three points scored, 58 allowed. Dustin Hectorne’s program has not posted individual statistics this season, which makes the Eagles the hardest team in the county to scout from a keyboard — and on a night like this, maybe that is not the worst thing in the world.
What the record book says about Horn Lake is unforgiving. Since 2000 the Eagles are 4-108 when allowing 30 or more points and 1-53 when allowing 40. They have already allowed 35 once. Tonight they face an offense that hung 49 on Lewisburg eight days ago.
That Olive Branch offense, under head coach Marcus Jamison, is the most productive unit in the county on paper. Junior running back Javarris Hickman is averaging 154.5 rushing yards per game. Senior quarterback Kylen Reed has four touchdown passes, two more on the ground, a 63.3 completion percentage and 57.0 rushing yards a game of his own. Senior receivers Darnell Harris (98.0 yards per game, two scores) and Marcus Jamison Jr. (92.0) give the Conquistadors two legitimate outside threats — a rare luxury at this level.
The counterweight: Olive Branch is 1-1 because it was thumped 31-13 at Shannon in Week 1, and its 62-61 scoring margin is the thinnest of any team in the county with a winning record. The defense — senior linebacker Ryan Johnson (7.5 tackles per game), senior tight end/defensive lineman Tommy Callicut (7.0 tackles, 3.0 sacks, five quarterback hurries) and junior defensive back Garien Smith (6.5) — still surrendered 30 points to a Lewisburg team that had scored 26 the week before.
One historical footnote before anyone buries the Eagles: Horn Lake went 15-0 and won the state championship in 2018, scoring a program-record 574 points. That team is eight years gone. The building remembers it anyway.
The number: Since 2000, Olive Branch is 71-1 when scoring 40 or more.
THE UNBEATENS
Hernando (2-0) at Kosciusko (2-0) — 7 p.m.
The best game on the board involving a DeSoto County team is a long bus ride to Attala County.
Colin Boone’s Tigers have been ruthless in two home dates, beating Memphis Overton 55-0 and Memphis Ridgeway 49-7. The 104-7 aggregate is the most lopsided two-week start by any team in the county. Senior back Cooper Lankford is averaging 110.0 rushing yards per game with five rushing touchdowns. Junior quarterback Asher Lawson has four touchdown passes, a 75.0 completion percentage and a 156.3 rating. Senior receivers Reid Sanders and Myles Bryant are averaging an identical 25.5 receiving yards per game; senior Terronce Walton has added 38.0 rushing yards a night and two scores. Junior linebacker Beau Anders (4.0 tackles per game) and senior end Heath Hammett (2.0 sacks) front a defense that has surrendered one touchdown all year.
Now the caveat. Those were two Memphis city-school opponents. Kosciusko is something else — a 618-win program, 2-0, having beaten Neshoba Central 55-35 and then gone to Florence and won 46-16. MaxPreps ranks the Whippets 33rd in Mississippi.
This is also, remarkably, a series nobody remembers. The schools have met three times, Kosciusko leads 2-1, and the last meeting was in 2001 — a 15-14 Hernando win. Twenty-five years is a long time between handshakes.
Hernando has no state championships in 100 seasons of football and exactly one district title, in 1989. Its playoff record is 5-14. A win here, on the road, against a ranked 4A program, would be the most meaningful non-region result the Tigers have produced in a decade.
The number: Hernando is 50-2 since 2000 when scoring 40 or more — and has done it twice already this year.
Columbus (0-2) at Lake Cormorant (2-0) — 7 p.m.
Nick Nester’s Gators are the county’s highest-ranked team — 25th in Mississippi — and they got there the least glamorous way imaginable. Twenty-seven points against PURE Academy. Fourteen against DeSoto Central, in overtime, in a game that finished 14-7.
Forty-one points scored in two games. Fifteen allowed.
The defense is the story. Since 2000, Lake Cormorant is 40-1 when holding an opponent under 10 points, and the Gators have already done it once this fall. Junior quarterback Curtis Shields runs the offense — two touchdown passes, 39.0 rushing yards per game — with junior back Edris Vaulx, senior linebacker/back Rashad Bobo and junior slot Kaelan Yeager in support. It is not a system built to win a shootout. So far it has not needed to be.
Columbus arrives 0-2, outscored 87-12, including a 41-0 shutout loss at Southaven last week. The Falcons are ranked 246th in the state. Lake Cormorant leads the series 3-2 and won last year’s meeting 42-14.
This has the shape of the Gators’ first comfortable Friday of 2026.
MASAE (1-2) at Center Hill (2-0) — 7 p.m.
Mitchell Harville has Center Hill 2-0, and the Mustangs earned it: a 23-16 overtime win over Horn Lake, then 43-6 at Cordova.
Junior Trintin Martin has been the best individual performer in the county through two weeks — 129.5 rushing yards per game, four rushing touchdowns, plus 20.5 receiving yards a night. Senior tight end Tytan Sims leads the county in receiving at 64.0 yards per game. Junior quarterback Gavin Shoup has been efficient enough at 56.7 percent with a passing touchdown and two on the ground. The real development is defensive: junior middle linebacker Caleb Davis (6.5 tackles per game, one sack), senior linebacker Martez Richmond (6.0) and senior end Tommy Lowe (5.0 tackles, four quarterback hurries) have held two opponents to 22 combined points.
The visitor is Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, 1-2, which lost to Westview and at Senatobia before blanking Trezevant 40-0 to open TSSAA Region 8 play.
The number: Since 2000, Center Hill is 0-45 when scoring fewer than 10 points and 22-1 when scoring 40 or more. There is very little middle ground in Mustang football.
THE PROVE-ITS
Ripley (1-1) at Lewisburg (1-1) — 7 p.m.
Lewisburg finally comes home. Rusty Cagle’s Patriots have played both games on the road — a 26-14 win at Memphis Mitchell, then the 49-30 loss at Olive Branch — and tonight is their home opener.
The Patriots carry the county’s heaviest historical burden: 68-143 all-time since the program’s 2007 birth, a .322 winning percentage, no district title, one playoff win in four appearances. But there is talent in the backfield. Junior Darius Totten has five total touchdowns and 77.5 rushing yards per game. Senior Jayden Snow is a genuine dual threat (59.5 rushing, 21.5 receiving). Senior Will Butler leads the team at 55.5 receiving yards per game. Sophomore quarterback Kaysen Wiggins has three touchdown passes but is completing only 42.3 percent — the number that has to move.
Defensively, senior linebacker Hunter Smith (9.0 tackles per game), junior safety Clark Helmick (8.5) and sophomore linebacker Bankston Johnston (8.0 tackles, one interception) are producing. The unit around them gave up 49 last week.
Ripley is 1-1 — a 34-23 win over Mooreville, then a 50-8 beating by Grenada. Lewisburg leads the short series 2-1 and won last season’s meeting 28-21.
The number: Lewisburg since 2000 is 29-0 when allowing fewer than 10 and 2-69 when allowing 40 or more. Tonight is a referendum on which of those the 2026 defense is.
Southaven (1-1) at South Panola (0-2) — 7 p.m.
On paper this is the county’s hardest assignment. South Panola is 0-2 — and ranked 19th in Mississippi, ahead of every DeSoto County team.
Understand why. The Tigers, a 643-win program with a .710 all-time winning percentage, have lost at DeSoto Central 26-25 and at Oxford 17-10. Two road games, eight combined points of margin. Tonight is their home opener, and they are angry.
Southaven arrives with real momentum. Randal Montgomery’s Chargers opened with a 21-7 loss to Winona, then shut out Columbus 41-0 — the program’s most recent shutout and its best offensive night of the young season. The Chargers have not posted individual statistics this fall, but the team ledger is sound: 48 points for, 21 against, and a defense that has allowed three touchdowns in two games.
History is not kind. South Panola leads the all-time series 39-14 and won last year 34-19. This will be the 54th meeting.
The number: Southaven since 2000 is 78-6 when allowing fewer than 10 points. Holding South Panola under double digits in Batesville would be the county’s upset of the season.
Northpoint Christian (0-3) at Bayou Academy (2-1) — 7 p.m.
The Trojans’ record is 0-3. Their schedule is the reason.
Tyler Gold’s team — a 224-win program with a 2003 state championship, competing in TSSAA Division II-AA West — opened against University School of Jackson (38-0), then Memphis University School (41-6), then lost 29-22 to Tupelo Christian Prep. That is two of the strongest private-school programs in West Tennessee, back to back. Northpoint was 7-3 a year ago.
There are pieces here. Sophomore Kendall Green averages 71.0 rushing yards per game; freshman Jacoby Sundvall has added 56.0. Senior Maddox Vincent leads the receivers at 37.7 yards per game with a touchdown. Sophomore Grayson Moody has thrown two touchdown passes at a 143.9 rating out of the slot, an interesting wrinkle alongside junior quarterback Palmer King. Sophomore corner Luke McCoy (4.7 tackles per game) and junior linebacker Tucker Jordan (4.5) lead the defense.
Bayou Academy is 2-1 — wins over St. Joseph (26-23) and Greenville Christian (35-6), an 11-0 loss at Pillow Academy. And there is a template: Northpoint beat this same Bayou team 21-19 last September 12.
The Trojans’ longest losing streak in 38 seasons is 12 games. They are at three. This is the week to end it.
THE IDLE JAGUARS
DeSoto Central (1-1) — open date
The county’s second-ranked team (26th in Mississippi) sits still tonight, and the timing is either a mercy or a cruelty depending on your mood.
Will Wolfe’s Jaguars beat South Panola 26-25 in the opener — the result that, more than any other, scrambled the early-season order in North Mississippi — then lost 14-7 in overtime at Lake Cormorant. Thirty-three points scored, 39 allowed, in two one-score games. There is not a wide gap between 2-0 and 0-2 on this team’s résumé.
The talent is real. Senior Cade Rodgers is averaging 128.0 rushing yards per game with two scores. Junior quarterback Caleb Smith is completing 76.9 percent of his passes with a 133.5 rating and 80.5 rushing yards a game. Junior James Pegues adds 65.5 on the ground. Senior Terrance Jackson (43.0 receiving yards per game) is the primary target. And the front seven is the best in the county: junior linebacker Tyler Braswell (10.0 tackles per game, two fumble recoveries), senior linebacker James Stout (9.5) and senior lineman Landon Caradine (8.5), with junior defensive back Braylon Hall already forcing two fumbles.
The history hanging over all of it: DeSoto Central is 0-8 all-time in the state playoffs across eight appearances. Twenty-four seasons, not one postseason win. Last year’s seven-win team was the winningest in school history and still went out in the first round.
The Jaguars return September 18 at PURE Academy. Region play opens October 9 at Lewisburg.
THE COUNTY AT A GLANCE
| Team | Record | PF-PA | MS Rank | Head Coach | Tonight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Cormorant | 2-0 | 41-15 | 25 | Nick Nester | vs. Columbus |
| DeSoto Central | 1-1 | 33-39 | 26 | Will Wolfe | — open — |
| Center Hill | 2-0 | 66-22 | 58 | Mitchell Harville | vs. MASAE |
| Horn Lake | 0-2 | 23-58 | 59 | Dustin Hectorne | vs. Olive Branch |
| Hernando | 2-0 | 104-7 | 60 | Colin Boone | at Kosciusko |
| Southaven | 1-1 | 48-21 | 69 | Randal Montgomery | at South Panola |
| Olive Branch | 1-1 | 62-61 | 89 | Marcus Jamison | at Horn Lake |
| Lewisburg | 1-1 | 56-63 | 166 | Rusty Cagle | vs. Ripley |
| Northpoint Christian | 0-3 | 28-108 | 211 | Tyler Gold | at Bayou Academy |
THE PICKS
| Game | Pick |
|---|---|
| Olive Branch at Horn Lake | Olive Branch. The home opener and the rivalry shrink the margin, but Hickman and Reed are too much for a defense that has allowed 58 points in two weeks. |
| Hernando at Kosciusko | Kosciusko. The Whippets have beaten better people. Hernando keeps it close; Hernando doesn’t win. |
| Ripley at Lewisburg | Lewisburg. Home opener, Totten’s legs, and a Ripley team that just lost by 42. |
| Southaven at South Panola | South Panola. Two one-score losses and a home opener is a bad combination to walk into. |
| MASAE at Center Hill | Center Hill. Martin runs for 150 and the Mustangs get to 3-0. |
| Columbus at Lake Cormorant | Lake Cormorant. The Falcons have scored 12 points all season. |
| Northpoint at Bayou Academy | Northpoint. Coin flip, and the Trojans have earned one. |
Sourcing. Records, scores, schedules and individual statistics are as published by MaxPreps on the morning of September 11, 2026. All-time series records, program histories, coaching listings and scoring splits are from the Mississippi High School Football Historical Society (AHSFHS.org). Horn Lake and Southaven have not posted individual player statistics to MaxPreps this season; team figures are used for those two programs. Individual statistics reflect two games played for all MHSAA teams and three for Northpoint Christian, and are updated by member schools at varying intervals.
