Published: November 05, 2008 02:00 am      

Tigers face tough road test

After a 2-5 start, including a 1-3 mark in Region 5-3A, the Southeast Lauderdale Tigers were in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in three years.

The never-say-die Tigers, who were outscored by 13 points in the regular season, picked up back-to-back wins over Raleigh and Choctaw Central to clinch a spot in the postseason for only the fourth time in school history.

"I'm proud of the way our seniors stepped up those last two games to get us into the playoffs," said SEL coach Ty Trahan. "They're going to the playoffs for the third straight year, so they're no stranger to the postseason."

The Tigers draw a tough first-round opponent in the No. 2 team in the Class 3A and the defending south state champion ... Franklin County. Making things tougher will be playing the game in Meadville, where FC has only lost twice in the last three years.

The 9-1 Bulldogs only loss — a 13-7 setback — came to No. 1 Tylertown. Trahan knows that advancing to the second round won't be easy.

"We feel like there are some things we can do, but it's going to take a great effort," he said.

The key offensively for Southeast will be to execute in the passing game as well as continue to be strong on the ground. Leading the rushing game will be James White, who reached the 1,300-yard plateau and scored a dozen touchdowns for the Tigers.

"We feel like we'll be able to run downhill on them," Trahan said. "They've got a good nose tackle, so we have to make our blocks. We feel like we can run powers on them.

"Our line has blocked well this year, we just haven't made enough plays out of our receivers."

Trahan will look to those receivers Friday night as the Tigers will try to exploit the few cracks that exist in the Bulldog defense that has only allowed 100 points this year.

"We're going to hopefully give them something they haven't seen," Trahan said. "They have some holes in their coverage. We're going to try to attack those holes and get the ball to our receivers."

Defensively Southeast — led by Dominique Adams' 130 tackles — will have to contend with Auburn commit Jamie Collins. The quarterback — who will likely play defense in college — is a threat both throwing and running the ball.

"Our number one key Friday is to stop Collins," Trahan said. "He's a good player.

"They like to run out of the gun quite a bit. Really this is a running team, they like to mix in a little option."

Southeast ended the regular season with a bye week, something which Trahan hopes will have helped the Tigers once they take the field Friday night.

"It helps a lot having the bye week at the end of the season," Trahan said. "The only thing is that we didn't know who our opponent was going to be. It helped us get healthy, though."

While the Tigers are making their third straight trip to the postseason, Franklin County is hoping for its third straight trip to Jackson. The Bulldogs won the Class 3A state championship in 2006 and lost to Louisville in the title game last year.

"We have to play our game," Trahan said. "We have to play good defense and not let the whole mystique of Franklin County affect us. They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like us."