Friday Night Preview: Alcorn County Hits the Road as Tishomingo County Eyes a County Sweep

September 11, 2026 Jon Myers

There is no soft landing anywhere on the Alcorn County schedule Friday night.

Three of the county’s four football programs pack a bus. The one that stays home draws the only unbeaten team in the neighborhood — a Tishomingo County club that has already beaten two Alcorn County teams in two weeks and arrives at Larry B. Mitchell Stadium with a chance to make it three in three. All four games kick at 7 p.m., according to the MHSAA’s weekly schedule.

The county enters Week 3 a combined 3-5. Corinth, Alcorn Central and Biggersville are each 1-1. Kossuth is 0-2. And on the MaxPreps state ladder, only Corinth walks into Friday ranked ahead of its opponent.

None of these four games counts in the region standings. All four count for everything else — the seeding math that arrives in October, the momentum that carries into it, and the September evidence that tells a coach what he actually has.

Friday’s Slate

Corinth (1-1) at Houston (1-1) — 7 p.m., Houston High School
Alcorn Central (1-1) at North Pontotoc (1-1) — 7 p.m., North Pontotoc Attendance Center, Ecru
Tishomingo County (2-0) at Kossuth (0-2) — 7 p.m., Larry B. Mitchell Stadium
Biggersville (1-1) at East Webster (2-0) — 7 p.m., East Webster High School, Maben

Tishomingo County at Kossuth: The Braves Go for the County Sweep

Tishomingo County has spent the opening fortnight of its season playing Alcorn County and beating it soundly. The Braves opened Aug. 27 by handling Alcorn Central 27-10 in Iuka. They followed on Sept. 4 by burying Biggersville 56-7. Friday they come to Kossuth for the third leg.

On paper, this is where the tour is supposed to stop. Kossuth leads the all-time series 18-7 — 72.0 percent — and won 41-28 in Iuka last September, per AHSFHS.org. Tishomingo County, which opened in 1991, is 104-268 all-time, has never won a district championship and is 0-5 in playoff games.

Except that Cory Quinn’s Braves have outscored two opponents 83-17 and are up to 80th in Mississippi on MaxPreps, 139 spots ahead of the Aggies. The AHSFHS split sheet explains why that matters: since 2000, Tishomingo County is 42-0 when it holds an opponent under 10 points and 24-1 when it scores 40 or more. The Braves have done one or the other in both games this fall.

Kossuth’s problem is arithmetic. Brian Kelly’s Aggies have 20 points in two games after averaging 33.9 a year ago — 373 points across 11 games on the way to an 8-3 finish and a 4-0 sweep of Region 1-3A. They scored 13 at Baldwyn and seven against Adamsville, Tenn. Since 2000, Kossuth is 2-53 when it scores fewer than 10 points. It is 67-0 when it scores 40.

Junior quarterback Kipptyn Briggs is averaging 58.0 rushing yards per game, but he has completed just 39.3 percent of his passes for a 25.9 rating. Senior Braxton Brown is the most complete piece on the field for Kossuth — 60.5 rushing yards and 25.5 receiving yards per game. Juniors Eli Null (21.0) and Baylor Kelly (15.5) are the next receiving options. Sophomore Landon Stewart anchors the defense at 9.5 tackles per game, with sophomore Henley Hutchins at 6.8 and junior Preston Swindle at 6.0.

This is a program with 10 district titles in the book, the most recent one last fall. A third straight September loss, at home, to a team it has beaten 18 times would sting well past Friday.

Biggersville at East Webster: Six Returners Against a Defending Champion

WTVA made this its Friday Night Fever Game of the Week, which tells you something about the stage. The matchup itself tells you something harsher.

East Webster won the MHSAA Class 2A state championship last December, beating Heidelberg 28-16 at Davis Wade Stadium for the first football title in school history. Ron Price’s Wolverines have now won 16 consecutive games dating to Sept. 5, 2025 — the longest winning streak in the program’s 41-year history, per AHSFHS.org. They are 2-0 this fall with a 67-27 scoring margin and sit 47th in Mississippi on MaxPreps, the highest MaxPreps ranking of any team involved in Friday’s Alcorn County slate.

East Webster also owns this series outright: 5-0 all-time against Biggersville, including a 54-14 win at the Lions Den last September.

Biggersville, meanwhile, is rebuilding in the most literal sense of the word. Tyler Rosenthal, who spent five seasons as defensive coordinator at Amory, took over for Case Ingram — now the head coach at Saltillo — and inherited six returning players from a team that went 12-2, won Region 1-1A at 3-0 and put together three playoff wins before falling 36-14 to Calhoun City on Nov. 28. Among the six is sophomore running back Demri Gunn, who ran for 99 yards and a touchdown a year ago, WTVA reported.

The Lions have been an either-or team so far: 33-14 over West Lowndes, then 56-7 to Tishomingo County. The AHSFHS splits frame the danger plainly. Since 2000, Biggersville is 2-103 when it allows 40 or more points. East Webster, over the same span, is 100-0 when it scores 40 or more. Those two lines point the same direction.

The Wolverines return junior quarterback Kross Avent, who threw for 1,797 yards and 22 touchdowns during the title run. Junior receiver Miles Stidham is averaging 95.0 receiving yards per game. Junior Dakarai Coffey is the do-everything piece — 62.5 rushing yards, 50.0 receiving yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Junior Kage McHann adds 67.0 rushing yards per game. Senior Lamarkiz Mccurry leads the defense at 11.0 tackles per game, senior Sproles Stewart is at 10.0, and sophomores Quay Coleman and Kyler Harris have two sacks apiece.

Biggersville has not entered individual statistics on MaxPreps this season, so the Lions’ September remains, for now, a team-level story: 40 points scored, 70 allowed, and a very young roster getting its education in a hurry.

Corinth at Houston: The County’s Flagship Goes Looking for Its Offense

Corinth carries the county’s deepest file and its best current ranking. The Warriors are 605-470-34 since 1913, own the 2019 state championship, 12 district titles and 27 playoff appearances, and sit 44th in Mississippi on MaxPreps. Justin Dye’s team went 9-3 last fall, swept Region 1-4A at 4-0, and bowed out 14-3 at Kosciusko in the third round.

The 2026 Warriors have scored 42 points in two games. Last year’s team averaged 36.0 — 432 points in 12 games.

Corinth opened by winning 28-21 at New Hope, avenging a 41-33 home loss to the Trojans in last season’s opener. Then came Itawamba Agricultural. The Warriors scored the game’s first seven points, went into halftime tied 7-7, stayed tied 7-7 through three quarters, and lost 21-14 after the Indians put up 14 in the fourth.

History favors Corinth on Friday. The Warriors are 10-4-1 all-time against Houston — 71.4 percent — and won 52-20 at Warrior Stadium last September.

Houston is the larger unknown, and Friday is the Hilltoppers’ home opener after two road games. Chris Walters’ team opened by winning 46-12 at Columbus — a genuinely loud result — then lost 27-12 at Pontotoc. The offense runs through senior Braylin Rogers, who is listed as a receiver and cornerback but is doing the throwing and most of the running: 138.0 rushing yards per game, five touchdown passes and a 58.6 completion percentage. Senior Ty’Chason Townsend (56.0 receiving yards per game, two touchdowns), senior Jacobi Walker (39.0) and senior DaMorio Hamilton (36.0 receiving yards, plus a team-high two interceptions) give him targets. Senior Jordan Robinson has three rushing touchdowns.

Corinth’s individual numbers are only partially entered on MaxPreps — senior quarterback Qwuantiver Young shows a 135.4 rating and a touchdown pass, with senior Jamir Barton and junior Jaquarius Patterson appearing among the rushing and receiving leaders — so the Warriors are best read at the team level right now. There, the message is unambiguous. Since 2000, Corinth is 139-9 when it scores 30 or more points and 86-1 when it reaches 40. It has not touched either number this season.

Alcorn Central at North Pontotoc: The Record Book vs. September

No game on the slate has a wider gap between what the history says and what this month says.

The history is unkind. Alcorn Central is 155-436-3 all-time — a 26 percent winning clip — with one district title, won in 1989, and two playoff appearances across 59 seasons. The Golden Bears are 13-47 in the 2020s. They are 2-11 all-time against North Pontotoc. And they lost to the Vikings 55-0 in Glen last September, one of five home losses in a 2-9 year in which Central was outscored 383-137.

September says something else. Marty Warren’s team just shut out Falkner 41-0, scoring in every quarter, leading 20-0 at the half and 34-0 after three. Senior quarterback Ty Whitten threw for two scores and ran for two more in that game; on the season he is averaging 70.0 rushing yards per game with a team-high three touchdown passes. Sophomore Rylee Brooks is adding 56.5 rushing yards per game, junior Ashton Peters 26.5. Senior Jayden Taylor is the busiest defender in the county at 12.5 tackles per game and also leads Central in receiving at 18.0 yards per game. Junior Kaidyn Young is at 11.0 tackles, and sophomore Cayden Miles leads the Bears with 1.5 sacks.

Central’s 51 points in two games put it on a 25.5-per-game pace after scoring 137 all of last season. That is the good news. The AHSFHS splits supply both the ceiling and the floor: since 2000, Alcorn Central is 16-0 when it scores 40 or more points — and 1-180 when it allows 30 or more.

North Pontotoc will test the second half of that sentence. Matt Lindsey’s Vikings, also playing their home opener, lost 33-21 at Booneville before winning 45-28 at Nettleton. Junior running back Ladarrius Adkins has been the engine — 86.0 rushing yards per game, four rushing touchdowns and a receiving score for a team-high five. Junior Cayson Jensen has added 75.0 rushing yards per game, senior Aden Harden 67.5 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Storm Robinson three touchdown passes. Sophomore Easton Hill leads the defense at 12.0 tackles per game.

Since 2000, North Pontotoc is 72-7 when it scores 40 or more points. It did exactly that last Friday.

Three Things the County Learns by 10 O’Clock

1. Whether Tishomingo County finishes the job. A program with zero district championships and zero playoff wins in 36 seasons can go 3-for-3 against Alcorn County before the end of September. That would be the story of the fall so far in this corner of northeast Mississippi.

2. Whether Corinth’s offense arrives. The Warriors have been a 30-point team for a quarter-century — 139-9 when they get there. Twenty-one points a game is not a Corinth number, and Region 1-4A play, which opens Oct. 2, does not get easier.

3. Whether Alcorn Central’s start is real. A 41-0 shutout is the kind of night that changes a locker room. A trip to Ecru against the team that hung 55 on you last year is the kind of night that tests whether the change stuck.

Four games, one county, 7 o’clock. By the time the lights go off, Alcorn County will know considerably more about its football teams than it does this morning.

Records, scores, rankings and per-game statistics via MaxPreps, updated through Sept. 10-11, 2026. All-time series records, program totals and situational split records via AHSFHS.org. Kickoff times and pairings via the Mississippi High School Activities Association. Biggersville and East Webster roster notes via WTVA.