All Mississippi High School Activities Association title games are officially set, featuring three classifications featuring teams from the coverage area of the Commercial Dispatch.
That leaves four classifications with games set to take place this weekend in Oxford, beginning with the Class 6A title game between West Jones and Grenada.
Class 6A championship: West Jones (13-0) vs. Grenada (11-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday
West Jones comes in a perfect 13-0, taking down last season’s Class 5A state champion, Picayune, in the semifinals on Friday. The Region 3 champions in Class 6A this season, the Mustangs have outscored opponents, 111-40, in the postseason so far, averaging 37 points per game offensively.
On the other sideline is an 11-3 Grenada team coming off a thrilling 33-21 semifinal win over South Panola. If there’s one thing the Chargers have done well this season, it’s play good defense.
Coming into last Friday’s semifinal, Grenada had a six-game streak of holding opponents to 10 or fewer points and even with the result, the Chargers have only allowed 13 points per game to opponents this season.
Friday night’s state championship game – the first-ever meeting between the two schools – will be a battle of good on good as two teams fight for 6A supremacy.
Class 4A championship: Louisville (14-0) vs. Columbia (14-0), Noon Saturday
Someone will leave the 4A championship in Oxford on Saturday afternoon with a perfect record.
Louisville and Columbia, a pair of 14-0 teams, will be going at it for the Class 4A title, but of the two, the Wildcats are looking to extend a streak of pure dominance as the best high school team in all of Mississippi.
Right now, Louisville is on a 25-game winning streak with the opportunity to win back-to-back 4A titles, coupled with one of the best offenses and defenses the Magnolia State has seen…in the same locker room.
Averaging 36.9 points per game offensively and allowing just 7.4 points per game defensively, the Wildcats are near perfection on both sides of the ball.
Columbia has a tall task on its hands, but it went 14-0 this season for a reason, thanks in large part to its offense, one that’s averaging just over 39 points per game so far. Columbia’s defense has been stellar too, allowing 14.2 points per game defensively to opponents.
A team of destiny versus a team trying to create its own, Saturday’s 4A final should be a great one. This is the fifth time Louisville and Columbia are meeting, the first since 1951, when Louisville won, 18-6. Louisville holds a 3-1 all-time record against Columbia.
Class 2A championship: Heidelberg (11-3) vs. Charleston (12-2), 4 p.m. Friday
Two high-powered offenses head into the Class 2A state championship game on Saturday, but those two teams took two very different routes to get to Oxford.
Charleston, the North Half champion, enters Saturday with a 12-2 record and one of the most explosive offenses among 2A programs. Of their 14 games played this season, the Tigers scored more than 40 points in nine of them, averaging 38.1 points per game offensively overall.
Their run to a state-title-game appearance was an emphatic one with three-straight 25-plus-point wins in the playoffs and four-straight 25-plus-point wins overall.
Charleston has scored 40 or more points in every playoff game so far.
On the other side, a typically high-scoring offense in Heidelberg made its defensive prowess known in the south half of the bracket, outscoring opponents by a combined 27 points in their three playoff wins so far.
The Oilers’ defense allowed just over 10 points per game to opponents this postseason, getting hot at the right time before playing Charleston on Saturday afternoon.
This is the first-ever matchup between the two schools.
Class 1A championship: Biggersville (11-1) vs. Velma Jackson (13-0), 4 p.m. Thursday
The first game of state championships in Oxford this weekend is the battle of Class 1A teams and a chance for a perfect season.
Biggersville, on a seven-game winning streak since losing to Nettleton in non-district play, takes on an unbeaten Velma Jackson team that has simply dominated opponents leading up to Thursday’s state title game.
Before the quarterfinals, the Falcons hadn’t given up more than 10 points in a game and despite doing so over their last two games, Velma Jackson has pitched six shutouts this season, including three in a row at one point.
The Falcons come into their game against the Lions having given up 5.2 points a game defensively while scoring 47.8 points a game offensively, an average margin of victory of more than 40 points per game.
Biggersville’s offense is no slouch either, averaging 43.3 points per game this season against a battle-tested set of opponents, most recently an unbeaten Vardaman team in the semifinals who the Lions beat by 20. Expect plenty of offense on Thursday in the first-ever matchup between the two schools.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion