Veteran sportswriter and high school football expert Robert Wilson is doing the Germany Law Firm, PLLC/Mississippi Scoreboard predictions column each week during the high school football season on teams from Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County. Wilson had a 9-1 record (90.0 percent) last week.
By Robert Wilson
Brandon (0-0) at Tupelo (0-0)
Then defensive back coach Eugene Clinton took over as head coach at Brandon when Lance Pogue resigned midway through the season. Pogue, one of the winningest coaches in Mississippi history who won a national championship at South Panola, was in his first season at Brandon.
Clinton guided the Bulldogs to a 4-2 record, including wins over Ocean Springs and Oak Grove in the MHSAA Class 7A playoffs before losing to eventual champion Gulfport in the semifinals.
The former Provine High and Mississippi State defensive back and 10-year assistant at Brandon did such as good job as interim, Clinton was named head coach after the season. Clinton, who was also an assistant coach at Provine for eight seasons before coming to Brandon, is a head coach for the first time and making his official head coaching debut against Tupelo, who many consider the favorite to win the 7A state championship,
Brandon – ranked No. 6 in MHSAA Class 7A and No. 10 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – returns eight starters from last year’s 7-6 team.
Senior running back and Michigan commitment Tyson Robinson, who is rated the No. 10 player in Mississippi and the No. 20 running back in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports, is back at full strength after being injured most of last season.
Junior linebacker Travion Washington, rated the No. 8 player in Mississippi and No. 21 linebacker in the country in the Class of 2028 by 247 Sports, has 33 Division I offers, including Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Jackson State, and 10 other SEC schools.
Senior quarterback and Illinois commitment Sladen Slack is rated the No. 29 player in Mississippi and the No. 69 quarterback in the country.
In addition, Brandon picked up four talented players from three teams in the MAIS Big 4, SEC prospect and junior wide receiver Josh Parker and SEC prospect and junior defensive back Kam Roberts, both from Jackson Prep, senior running back Kingston Mays from Jackson Academy, and senior defensive back Logan Drummond from Hartfield Academy.
Parker is rated the No. 4 player in Mississippi and No. 20 wide receiver in the country in the Class of 2028. Roberts is rated the No. 11 player in Mississippi and the No. 54 cornerback in the country in the Class of 2028. Mays is rated as the No. 40 player in Mississippi in the Class of 2027. Drummond was one of Hartfield’s top defensive players last season and led the team with seven pass breakups.
Tupelo – ranked No. 1 in MHSAA Class 7A and No. 1 in Mississippi – returns 16 starters from last year’s 13-2 team, which lost to Gulfport 21-20 in the 7A state championship game.
Tupelo has three highly rated seniors – inside linebacker and Ole Miss commitment Antonio Berry (No. 4 player in Mississippi and the No. 7 inside linebacker in the country), linebacker and Mississippi State commitment Devontray Brewer (No. 17 player in the Mississippi and the No. 44 linebacker in the country), and running back and Colorado commitment Kylan Bobo (No. 23 player in Mississippi and the No. 70 running back in the country).
Tupelo also has three highly rated juniors – linebacker Kaiden Buchanan (No. 8 player in Mississippi and No. 22 linebacker in the country), running back-middle linebacker Tyson Hunter (No. 14 player in Mississippi and No. 52 athlete in the country) and safety Trace Wilson (No. 23 player and No. 67 safety in the country).
Tupelo also has a new player to the program in senior quarterback Drew Dean. Dean shared quarterback duties with Knox Kiffin (son of former Ole Miss coach and current LSU coach Lane Kiffin) last season at Oxford.
Tupelo has had three consecutive tremendous seasons, going 13-1 in 2023, 14-0 in 2024 and 13-2 last season, reaching the semifinals in ’23, winning the state title in ’24 and finishing runner-up in ’25.
Before last season, Brandon had four straight outstanding seasons, going 11-3 in 2021, 12-2 in 2022 and 10-3 in 2023 and 12-2 in 2024, finishing runner-up in ’21, ’22 and ’24 (losing to Tupelo).
Tupelo defeated Brandon 36-15 in the season opener for both teams last year in Brandon.
Tupelo is too talented for Brandon, who will be improved over last season, to hang close. That talent and home field advantage are too much to overcome.
Tupelo 42, Brandon 21
Northwest Rankin (0-0) at Germantown (0-0)
There will be a lot of eyes watching No. 2 on Northwest Rankin Friday night. His name is De’Shawn Dillon, and many consider the Georgia Tech commitment the most talented football-basketball player in state, and one of the best in the South and country.
Consider this: In football, Dillon is rated the No. 16 player in Mississippi and the No. 71 wide receiver in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports. In basketball, he is ranked No. 2 in Mississippi and No. 23 shooting guard in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports.
In addition to Georgia Tech, Dillon has Division I football offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Florida State.
In basketball, Dillon has Division I offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Alcorn State, Jackson State and New Mexico State.
The 6-foot-4, 170-pound Dillion was named the Mississippi Gatorade Boys Basketball Player for the Year, but he is a star on the football field as well.
He had 67 catches (tied for third in Mississippi) for 979 yards (19th in Mississippi) and six touchdowns last season as a junior. He was a second-team wide receiver on the 2025 Mississippi Scoreboard All Metro Jackson team.
While Dillon will get a lot of attention, there will be other talented players in the field.
Northwest Rankin coach Devin Cooper has six more returning starters from last year’s team, which finished 6-5 and lost to eventual champion Gulfport in the first round of the MHSAA Class 7A playoffs.
Senior quarterback Gavin Phillipson returns after passing for 2,256 yards and 14 TDs. In addition to Dillon, Phillipson has a solid receiving group in Nick Taylor, Marco Stapleton and Jackson Marsalis. Marsalis is also a dangerous return specialist.
Germantown coach Russell Mitchell is coming off his best season since arriving in Madison County five years ago. The Mavs finished 8-4 and won a first round MHSAA Class 7A playoff game for the second straight season,
Germantown has only six returning offensive and defensive starters, led by offensive linemen Everett Turnage and Wells Higginbotham, and three specialists, kicker Nate Muzzi, punter Alex Brown and long snapper Walker Wasson. In addition, The Mavs have three transfers, linebacker Jaiden Hulbert from Jackson Academy, safety Xavier Porter from Northwest Rankin, and running back-linebacker Sy McBeath from Madison St. Joseph. Also, Braylon Harper moved to Mississippi from Waukegan, Illinois, and is expected to play nickel.
Phillipson and the Northwest Rankin passing attack is going to be a problem with many opposing teams this season and the Mavs will be the first to face them.
Northwest Rankin 35, Germantown 28
Parklane Academy (0-1) at Jackson Prep (1-0)
Even though this isn’t a MAIS Big 4 matchup, Prep has had this game circled since last season.
Parklane defeated Prep 18-7 in its season opener last year, beating Prep for the first time since 1995.
Parklane had lost to Jackson Prep 31 consecutive times, but the Pioneers ended the streak last year at McComb.
Senior running back Tanner Kyzer had 217 yards on 29 carries and scored two touchdowns and the Parklane defense kept Prep scoreless until the final minute in Parklane’s season opener.
Longtime Prep fans remember the Parklane win in 1995 too. Parklane won 6-0 – which won its 18th straight game under coach Charlie Newlon – held Prep to minus 13 rushing yards and intercepted two passes. Prep was without starting quarterback Wes Harris. Art Cleveland scored the only touchdown of the game. Parklane won its first 10 games that year before losing to Jackson Academy 7-0 in the first round of the playoffs.
Only one time in the past 20 years had Parklane gotten within three touchdowns of Prep (a 31-28 loss in double overtime at Parklane in 2019) before last season.
Parklane went on to win its second straight MAIS state championship last season. After losing its first two games (lost to Battleground Academy out of Nashville in its season opener), Prep bounced back to win seven of its next nine games and before losing to Hartfield Academy in the Class 4A, Division I semifinals.
This is a new season and Prep would love to return the favor. If the Patriots’ offense produces like it did last week in a 42-35 victory over UMS Wright of Mobile, Parklane might be in for a long night.
Even without one of its best offensive weapons – four-star wide receiver and SEC prospect Josh Parker transferred to Brandon High over the summer – Prep’s offense was running on all cylinders in the season opener.
Behind the offensive front of junior left tackle Jack Woods (6-foot-3, 280 pounds), senior left guard Manning Parks (6-1, 240), senior center Bernie Jones (6-2, 250), junior right guard Logan Harris (6-1, 220) and senior right tackle Jackson Roberts (6-4, 280) and the running of senior Wade Smith (188 rushing yards, 31 carries, 3 TDs), and senior Herrin Goodman (167 combined rushing and receiving yards and two TDs), and passing of senior quarterback Luke Essary (7 of 15 passes for 121 yards and two TDs), Prep rolled up 355 rushing yards and 450 total yards.
Prep jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the second quarter and held off UMS Wright for the victory.
Parklane wasn’t as fortunate in its opener last Friday. The Pioneers traveled four hours down to the Alabama Gulf Coast and lost 30-21 to Gulf Breeze High and head coach Mark Hudspeth, a Winston Academy and Delta State alumnus who was a Division I coach for 15 seasons and also offensive coordinator for Delta State’s national championship team in 2000.
Parklane had won 23 of its last 26 games before the loss last week, going 12-2 in 2025 and 11-1 in 2026.
Parklane, like Prep, lost its most productive returning wide receiver to a public school. Davis Carruth – the nephew of former Parklane, Alabama and NFL running back Paul Ott Carruth – who transferred to Oxford High over the summer.
But Parklane still has some firepower.
Parklane – coached by Ron Rushing and ranked No. 5 in MAIS Class 4A and No. 40 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – has nine returning starters, led by senior wide receiver Dooley Copeland. Six of those have started for the past two seasons.
In addition, Parklane welcomes freshman quarterback Reese Robinson from Brookhaven Academy who already has an offer from Tulane and former Southern Miss head coach Will Hall.
Prep – coached by Alabama Sports Hall of Fame coach Doug Goodwin and ranked No. 3 in MAIS Class 4A and No. 14 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – has 14 returning starters from last year’s 7-5 team.
Although Prep allowed 35 points last game, the Patriots has a solid defense, led by senior linebackers Gaines Reeves (nephew of Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves) and Brogen McCluskey and Goodman, who doubles as a defensive back.
Jackson Prep gets its second straight win.
Jackson Prep 24, Parklane 14
In other games (winning team in bold):
Forest Hillat Callaway, Hughes Field, Thursday
Madison Central at Pearl, Thursday
Canton Academy (0-1) at East Rankin Academy (2-0)
Central Hinds Academy (1-0) at Christian Home Educators Fellowship, La.
Christ Covenant School (1-0) at Central Holmes Christian School (1-0)
Clinton at Warren Central
Discovery Christian (2-0) at Heritage Christian (0-2)
Florence at Richland
Hartfield Academy (1-0) at Columbia (0-0)
Jim Hill at Crystal Springs
Lanier at Harrison Central
Leake at Provine, South Jackson Field
Madison St. Joseph (0-1) at Greenville St. Joseph (1-1)
McGill-Toolen, Ala. (1-0) at Jackson Academy (1-0)
Pisgah at Pelahatchie
Raymond at Port Gibson
Sebastopol at Puckett
St. Andrew’s at Cathedral (1-0)
Terry at Murrah, Hughes Field
Velma Jackson at Canton
