Cross-County rivals gear up for matchup on the gridiron

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - The Northeast Lauderdale Trojans will travel 14 miles South on Friday night, for their matchup with the Southeast Lauderdale Tigers.

Both the Trojans and the Tigers are coming off wins last week, as the Trojans beat Wilkinson County 28-0, and improved their record to 2-0.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Lauderdale Tigers beat Richland 20-6, which secured head Coach Brian Ford, his first win as the Tigers’ Head Coach.

Now, both teams’ focus shifts towards each other.

“You know, being from Meridian, from Lauderdale County... You know... I know the rivalries that exist between, you know the County schools, West Lauderdale, Southeast, and Northeast. Anytime we play a school that’s in our school district, you know that we know those coaches, so, I’ve known Coach Ford for a long time. He’s a great coach, and we’re friends. We’re going to go at it Friday night, and we’ll be friends afterward, regardless of what happens, but it makes for some exciting Friday nights,” Trojans Head Coach, John Douglass said.

Meanwhile, Coach Ford and his Tigers are looking to continue their momentum from last week’s win.

“The big thing is, ‘guys you can do it. You’ve seen you can do it. You know you can do it.’ We’ve got a big rival game this week, and anytime you play somebody in your school district or a cross-town rival like this, it has a little more importance to the people in the community and the kids on the team. Let’s carry that over into what we’re doing. They’re 2-0 and have a good football team. Let’s try to polish up, and go have some fun and do your best job,” Coach Ford said.

Kick-off for Friday night’s game at Southeast Lauderdale High School is at 7:00 pm.

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