Both Tallahatchie County varsity football teams will be playing on Thursday night (Oct. 26) this week for their regular-season finale. Kickoff is at 7.
The Charleston High School Tigers, 7-2, will travel to Itta Bena to face the Leflore County Tigers, 6-3, in an important Region 3-2A showdown. Charleston is coming off a 32-6 beatdown of the North Side Gators, while Leflore County handed O'Bannon a 35-0 loss last week.
The West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws, 4-4, will play host to the Leland High School Cubs, 0-9, at Choctaw Stadium in Webb. West Tally fell to Simmons 42-0 last week. In a battle of winless teams, Shaw topped Leland 18-0.
Both Charleston and West Tallahatchie are bound for the playoffs, and both the Tigers and Choctaws will host a first-round game on Friday, Nov. 3.
The Tigers currently sit atop the Region 3-2A standings with a regional mark of 3-0. Leflore County presently is 2-1 in the region.
The Choctaws are in second place in Region 5-1A behind Simmons and will be the No. 2 seed entering the postseason.
Four teams from each region will qualify for the playoffs.
The bracket alignment for Mississippi High School Activities Association classes 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A may be viewed here.
Under this year's schedule for the first round of the playoffs, the top four teams in Region 3-2A will face the four playoff-bound teams in Region 1-2A, which consists of the entire regional lineup. The top four teams in Region 5-1A will battle the four playoff-bound teams in Region 7-1A, which likewise includes all teams in the region.
A bracket of named pairings for each class will be posted early next week on the MHSAA website.
The rules determining which team hosts in the playoffs are posted here.
According to MHSAA guidelines, when two teams from the same region meet in the football playoffs, the higher seed will always be the home team, no matter what round.
More specific rules for Class 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A are:
1. First and second round – higher seed hosts.
2. Third round – If both teams have played an equal number of home matches the home site will be determined by the highest seeded team. If equally seeded teams play and #2 cannot determine a home site, the LOWER number of opponent’s region for the season will be the home team.
3. North/South Championships – highest seed hosts. If equally seeded teams, the LOWER numbered region will host.
4. State Championships, South team will be home.
