Tomorrow night at 7, the Oxford Chargers will take on Wayne County for the Class 5A state football championship at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. This game also will be the last one for Oxford head coach Johnny Hill, who is retiring.

Oxford, with a record of 12-3, will be looking for its first state championship in football. Oxford defeated West Point 35-7 to win the North Half title and advance to the championship game for the third consecutive year and fourth time overall under Hill’s tenure.

Hill, after last week’s win against West Point said, “It’s history, I’m glad we won the last time we played (at Bobby Holcomb Field). We’ll still be practicing on it and all that, but I’ve got tunnel vision and it’s look at that last game. Next week will be my last game and our last game this year, so I’m just going to stay focused and go from there.”

This will be the first year the Lafayette-Oxford-University community will host the championship games that will be played on a rotating basis between Oxford and Starkville. The games last year were hosted by Mississippi State in Starkville. There will be three games played on Friday and three on Saturday for the state championships in all six divisions in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA).

The games are sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi and are designated as the Mississippi Gridiron Classic State Football Championships. All of the games will be available live on the NFHS Network and a statewide network of commercial television affiliates.

The games scheduled are as follows:

Today, 11 a.m. — Class 1A, Simmons vs. Resurrection

Today, 3 p.m. — Class 2A, East Webster vs. Bassfield

Today, 7 p.m. — Class 6A, Starkville vs. Petal

Saturday, 11 a.m. —Class 3A, Charleston vs. Collins

Saturday, 3 p.m. — Class 4A, Noxubee County vs. St. Stanislaus

Saturday, 7 p.m.— Class 5A, Oxford vs. Wayne County

Many of our merchants, restaurants, hotels and other businesses will benefit from our community hosting 12 teams from different areas around the state. Parents, family and friends will all be traveling here this weekend to cheer on teams to a state championship.

Take the time to watch one of these games here, and let’s support Coach Johnny Hill and the Oxford Chargers as they play for a 5A state championship and send Coach Hill out with a victory.