JACKSON — Two years without playing for a state championship hardly qualifies as a drought. It’s barely even a “hiatus” or an “absence.”

Unless you’re Briarfield Academy, in which case it does seem like an eternity.

“Our seniors were on that (2021) team, they were in ninth grade, so it’s been a while,” Briarfield head coach Beau Travis said Monday, at the MAIS championship game press conference at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in Jackson. “You say it’s only been a few years but it feels like it’s been much more than a few years.”

Briarfield played in four MAIS 8-man football championship games from 2017-21, winning three, but did not get there the last two years. It’ll make its triumphant return to the big stage Friday at 10:30 a.m., in the Class 1A title game against Wilkinson County Christian Academy (8-4) at Jackson Academy.

The game will be live streamed at maisnetwork.org.

Despite the program’s remarkable success over the past seven years, this will be the first time most of the current seniors will play in a title game.

They were freshmen the last time the Rebels were here and played minimal roles, if any at all. Having the ball in their hands, literally and figuratively, is something they’ll have to adapt to very quickly.

“It’s a lot different, because when I was a freshman I wasn’t really worried about the game. I was just there standing on the sideline,” said senior running back Ryder Jones, who has rushed for more than 700 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. It’s a lot different to really make a difference on the field and be able to make something happen. It means a lot more to you.”

Briarfield (11-1) earned the No. 1 seed in the Class 1A bracket, but Travis said his team has been far from perfect. It lost twice during the regular season — one of those was changed to a forfeit win because River Oaks used an ineligible player — and had some close calls.

In the regular-season finale, it grinded out a 30-28 victory over its championship game opponent Wilkinson Christian. Briarfield stopped a fake field goal attempt and made another defensive stand in the fourth quarter to preserve the win.

The Rebels’ playoff run included last week’s 38-16 victory vs. Claiborne Academy in which they trailed at halftime and then ripped off 24 unanswered points.

The rematch with WCCA will be the third postseason game in a row in which Briarfield faced a team it saw during the regular season.

“We still haven’t put a complete game together from the first quarter through the fourth quarter, so we’re looking forward to trying to get that done on Friday,” Travis said.

Players said they formed a unique bond early in the season that has carried them through some tough spots.

“We’ve been together as a family, playing for each other, and we’ve got that one goal in mind,” senior lineman Calvin Barnes said.

Jones agreed.

“We just got a bunch of new guys and clicked. Within the first week of everybody being together we were all real close and came together real good like a family,” he said. “That’s helped us a lot of the season.”

BRIARFIELD VS. WCCA
• MAIS Class 1A championship
• Friday, 10:30 a.m., at Jackson Academy
• All MAIS championship games will be live streamed at MAISNetwork.org

MAIS championship schedule
At Jackson Academy
Thursday, Nov. 21
Class 2A – Tunica Academy vs. DeSoto School, 3 p.m.
Class 3A – Kirk Academy vs. Marshall Academy, 7 p.m.
Nov. 22
Class 1A – Wilkinson County Christian Academy vs. Briarfield Academy, 10:30 a.m.
Class 5A – Parklane Academy vs. Copiah Academy, 3 p.m.
Class 4A – Bowling Green vs. Tri-County, 7 p.m.
Nov. 23
At Mississippi College
Class 6A – Hartfield Academy vs. Jackson Prep, 6 p.m.