Milan’s Ty Hollingsworth (10) scores a touchdown against Mt. Pleasant during a Class 2A high school football second round game at Johnnie Hale Stadium on Nov. 14, 2025.

“What are you over there studying, Michael?” Victor Parkins asked when I was in the office bright and early on Monday morning.

“Do you know if Gibson County has ever had two running backs that have had as dominant a performance as we had Friday night?” I responded.

“Well, there have been years when Humboldt have had some dominant guys as the same time as Milan, and you can’t forget guys like Khalik Ganaway that won the Mr. Football award for Peabody,” Parkins said.

“Well, it would be hard to match what the Jaydons did in the second round,” I laughed. “I mean Milan’s Jaydon Peete had 240 yards rushing in the win over Mt. Pleasant, while South Gibson’s Jaydon Reed rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns in two-and-a-half quarters of play in the win over Spring Hill.”

“Wow, that is pretty impressive,” Parkins remarked.

“You know what else is impressive?” I laughed. “The fact I gained two more games last week.”

I went 13-2 last week to beat Victor’s mark of 11-4.

We both got all three games involving the Gibson County teams correct, so I am now 48-10 (.828 winning percentage) in picking county games, while Parkins is 46-12 (.793).

Outside of Gibson County, we both missed Fayetteville’s win over Dresden and Marshall County’s win over Dyer County, while Parkins also missed Dyersburg’s win over Fairview and Richland’s win over South Fulton.

So for the entire season, I have taken a seven-game lead, as I am 150-42 (.781) through 13 weeks, and Parkins is 143-49 (.745).

So can two Gibson County teams stay alive through the quarterfinal round?

East Nashville (6-5) at Milan (11-0)

Don’t be fooled by the Eagles’ record as they played tough competition early in the season, but the Bulldogs get to play this one at home and Fairley came back to have a chance against East Nashville last week.

Odom’s Pick: Milan 28, East Nashville 21

Vic’s Pick: Milan 21, East Nashville 14

Springfield (11-1) at South Gibson (9-3)

The Hornets are back in the state quarterfinals for the third time in program history. South Gibson has never made the state semifinals, and it will be a tough test to do it this year. I know Mrs. Norma Austin isn’t going to like this…

Odom’s Pick: Springfield 27, South Gibson 18

Vic’s Pick: South Gibson 28, Springfield 14

Best of the West

Class 1A

McKenzie (11-1) at Richland (10-2)

Odom’s Pick: McKenzie

Vic’s Pick: McKenzie

Class 2A

East Robertson (12-0) at Huntingdon (11-1)

Odom’s Pick: East Robertson

Vic’s Pick: Huntingdon

Class 3A

Dyersburg (8-4) at Covington (11-1)

Odom’s Pick: Covington

Vic’s Pick: Covington

Melrose (10-1) at Westview (11-0)

Odom’s Pick: Westview

Vic’s Pick: Westview

Class 5A 

Centennial (6-5) at Henry County (8-3)

Odom’s Pick: Henry County

Vic’s Pick: Henry County

Division II-A

USJ (10-1) at Providence Christian (9-2)

Odom’s Pick: USJ

Vic’s Pick: USJ

TCA (10-2) at Nashville Christian (11-0)

Odom’s Pick: Nashville Christian

Vic’s Pick: Nashville Christian

Michael Odom is the sports editor for the Mirror-Exchange, Weakley County Press, Brownsville States-Graphic and Fayette Falcon. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @GCSportsWriter. Reach him by email at michaelodom@milanmirrorexchange.com.