No. 1 Tupelo hosts No. 12 Brandon in star-studded Class 7A opener
There may not be a more talent-packed high school football game in Mississippi this weekend.
Tupelo and Brandon will renew what has quickly become one of Class 7A’s premier matchups Friday night, August 28, with the Golden Wave hosting the Bulldogs in a season opener filled with Division I prospects, returning all-state players and two programs with championship expectations.
MaxPreps’ preseason rankings have Tupelo No. 1 overall in Mississippi and Brandon No. 12, adding even more attention to an opening-night matchup that already carries plenty of recent history.
The two teams combine for 10 preseason Class 7A all-state selections and feature 12 current players ranked by 247Sports among Mississippi’s top prospects in the Classes of 2027 and 2028.
And they know each other well.
A third heavyweight meeting in three seasons
Friday will mark the third meeting between Tupelo and Brandon in less than two years.
The first came with a state championship on the line.
Tupelo defeated Brandon 28-16 in the 2024 Class 7A championship game, completing a perfect 14-0 season. The Golden Wave rushed for 241 yards in that championship victory while holding Brandon to just 46 yards on the ground.
The teams met again to open the 2025 season, this time at Brandon.
For a half, it looked like the Bulldogs might get some revenge.
Tupelo struggled offensively, turned the ball over twice and trailed 7-2 at halftime. Then the game changed almost instantly.
Kylan Bobo scored three rushing touchdowns, including runs of 44 and 77 yards. Tyson Hunter and Trace Wilson each returned an interception for a touchdown as Tupelo scored 27 points in the third quarter and pulled away for a 36-15 victory.
Between a safety and the two interception returns, Tupelo’s defense accounted for 16 points by itself, one more than Brandon scored as a team.
That game turned out to be the beginning of another championship run for Tupelo. The Golden Wave finished 13-2, won Region 1-7A and returned to the Class 7A championship game before falling 21-20 to Gulfport.
Brandon recovered from the opening loss to finish 7-6 and won two postseason games before its season also ended against Gulfport.
Now they meet again, this time in Tupelo.
Tupelo brings Bobo back for one more run
Any discussion about Tupelo’s offense begins with Kylan Bobo.
The senior running back exploded for 1,726 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on 197 carries last season, averaging 8.8 yards per attempt. He also caught seven passes for 106 yards and another score, finishing with 1,832 yards from scrimmage.
Brandon already knows what he can do.
Bobo scored three touchdowns against the Bulldogs last season, including the 77-yard fourth-quarter run that effectively put the game away.
The Colorado commit enters 2026 as one of Mississippi’s top senior prospects and is ranked No. 23 in the state in the 247Sports Class of 2027 rankings.
This season, however, Tupelo could be considerably more balanced offensively.
Senior quarterback Drew Dean transferred from Oxford after throwing for more than 3,000 yards with 31 touchdowns and just six interceptions over the previous two seasons.
That gives head coach Ty Hardin an experienced passer to pair with one of the state’s most dangerous rushing attacks.
Junior Tyson Hunter gives Tupelo another weapon out of the backfield and can impact the game on both sides of the football. Hunter was responsible for one of Tupelo’s two interception returns for touchdowns against Brandon last season.
Up front, the Golden Wave return plenty of experience.
Antonio Berry, an Ole Miss commit, is ranked No. 4 overall among Mississippi’s 2027 prospects by 247Sports and anchors an offensive line that brings back several players with significant varsity experience. Senior Caldarius Hall joins Berry as a preseason Class 7A all-state offensive lineman.
That could create a difficult choice for Brandon’s defense.
Loading the box to stop Bobo becomes considerably more dangerous if Dean can consistently attack one-on-one coverage downfield.
Tupelo’s defense remains loaded
As good as Tupelo could be offensively, its defense may once again be the biggest reason the Golden Wave are considered championship favorites.
Tupelo surrendered only about 14.5 points per game last season, and many of its most important pieces return.
Senior linebacker Devontray Brewer, a Mississippi State commit, led Tupelo with 119 tackles last year and added 4.5 sacks.
Brewer enters the season as the preseason Class 7A Defensive Player of the Year and is ranked No. 17 among Mississippi’s 2027 prospects by 247Sports.
Beside him is junior Kaiden Buchanan, who broke out as a sophomore with 6.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. Buchanan also produced four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 22 quarterback hurries.
He is already ranked No. 8 among Mississippi’s Class of 2028 prospects.
Hunter adds another highly regarded athlete at linebacker, while Trace Wilson returns in the secondary after intercepting two passes last season and returning one for a touchdown against Brandon.
Tupelo’s 2028 talent alone is impressive. Buchanan is ranked No. 8 in Mississippi, Hunter is No. 14 and Wilson is No. 23.
Senior defensive back Frederick Adams also returns, while transfers Lennox White and Crayden Shannon add more talent and depth to a defense that was already among the state’s best.
Brandon has plenty of firepower of its own
Brandon’s 7-6 finish last season shouldn’t disguise how much talent returns for the Bulldogs.
It begins with senior quarterback Sladen Shack, an Illinois commit and one of Mississippi’s top senior quarterbacks.
Shack has already shown the ability to produce at a high level. As a sophomore in 2024, he completed 193 of 299 passes for 2,586 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions, completing 64.5 percent of his attempts.
He is ranked No. 30 in Mississippi’s 2027 class by 247Sports and gives Brandon an experienced quarterback capable of challenging Tupelo’s aggressive defense.
But the centerpiece of the Bulldogs’ offense may be Tyson Robinson.
The Michigan commit enters the season as the preseason Class 7A Offensive Player of the Year after putting together an impressive junior season despite missing four games because of injury.
Robinson finished 2025 with 165 carries for 1,050 yards, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, while adding 24 receptions for 295 yards.
That gave him 1,345 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns despite missing four games.
He also showed his ability against Tupelo in last year’s opener, rushing for 67 yards on 11 carries, averaging more than six yards per attempt.
247Sports ranks Robinson No. 10 overall among Mississippi’s Class of 2027 prospects.
Keeping Robinson healthy and involved will be critical for Brandon. His ability to run between the tackles, break explosive plays and contribute as a receiver gives the Bulldogs a player Tupelo has to account for on virtually every snap.
And this season Brandon has added another major weapon alongside him.
Josh Parker adds another dimension
Junior athlete Josh Parker is now on Brandon’s roster after playing at Jackson Prep last season.
Parker caught 49 passes for 933 yards and five touchdowns in 2025, averaging 19 yards per reception. He also accumulated 473 return yards.
Now put Parker on the field with Shack and Robinson.
That could completely change the equation Tupelo saw from Brandon last August.
Parker is ranked No. 4 overall among Mississippi’s Class of 2028 prospects, making him one of the highest-rated juniors in the state.
Brandon also returns Graydon Walker and has additional targets including Braydon Steele and Tommy Brumfield.
If the Bulldogs can give Shack time in the pocket, Tupelo may have to defend considerably more of the field than it did in last season’s meeting.
Brandon has young stars on defense, too
Perhaps the most important returning Bulldog on the other side of the football is junior linebacker Travion Washington.
Washington averaged 9.2 tackles per game across Brandon’s 13-game season last year. His game logs included 16-tackle performances against Petal and Oak Grove, 12 tackles against Clinton and eight against Tupelo.
He is ranked No. 9 among Mississippi’s Class of 2028 prospects and joins Tupelo’s Brewer and Buchanan as a preseason Class 7A all-state linebacker.
Junior defensive back Kamron Roberts is another major prospect.
Roberts is ranked No. 11 in Mississippi’s 2028 class and was selected to the preseason all-state secondary along with Brandon teammate Parker.
That gives Brandon three of the state’s top 11 juniors in Parker, Washington and Roberts.
Recruiting talent everywhere
The recruiting rankings give some perspective on just how unusual this season opener is.
Among current players from the two schools ranked by 247Sports:
Class of 2027
- No. 4 Antonio Berry, Tupelo
- No. 10 Tyson Robinson, Brandon
- No. 17 Devontray Brewer, Tupelo
- No. 23 Kylan Bobo, Tupelo
- No. 30 Sladen Shack, Brandon
- No. 40 Kingston Mays, Brandon
Class of 2028
- No. 4 Josh Parker, Brandon
- No. 8 Kaiden Buchanan, Tupelo
- No. 9 Travion Washington, Brandon
- No. 11 Kamron Roberts, Brandon
- No. 14 Tyson Hunter, Tupelo
- No. 23 Trace Wilson, Tupelo
The 2027 rankings are headlined in this matchup by Berry, Robinson, Brewer and Bobo.
The 2028 rankings make it clear neither program is close to running out of talent after this season.
Ten preseason all-state selections
The preseason Class 7A all-state teams further illustrate the amount of talent that will be on the field Friday night.
Tupelo
- RB Kylan Bobo
- OL Antonio Berry
- OL Caldarius Hall
- LB Devontray Brewer
- LB Kaiden Buchanan
Brandon
- QB Sladen Shack
- RB Tyson Robinson
- LB Travion Washington
- DB Kamron Roberts
- DB Josh Parker
The two headliners are on opposite sides of the ball.
Robinson is the preseason Class 7A Offensive Player of the Year, while Brewer is the preseason Class 7A Defensive Player of the Year.
What decides Friday night’s game?
For Brandon, the first priority is avoiding a repeat of last year’s third quarter.
The Bulldogs were very much in the game at halftime, leading 7-2.
But a muffed punt created a short field for Bobo, two interceptions became Tupelo touchdowns and suddenly a competitive game had turned into a 29-7 Golden Wave lead.
Brandon cannot give Tupelo’s defense points and short fields.
The second challenge will be containing Bobo without completely selling out against the run.
Tupelo rushed for more than 4,600 yards as a team last season. With Dean now at quarterback, Hardin may finally have the passing attack needed to consistently punish defenses for committing an extra defender to the box.
For Tupelo, the challenge is handling what appears to be a more dangerous Brandon group of skill players than the one it saw last August.
Shack is an experienced quarterback. Robinson produced 1,345 yards from scrimmage despite missing four games. Parker gives the Bulldogs another explosive athlete who nearly reached 1,000 receiving yards last season.
Tupelo’s front seven, led by Brewer, Buchanan and Hunter, will try to make sure Shack never becomes comfortable enough to take advantage of all those weapons.
That battle may determine the game.
The outlook
Tupelo deserves to enter Friday as the favorite.
The Golden Wave have beaten Brandon twice in the last two seasons, have gone 27-2 over that span, return one of Mississippi’s best rushing attacks and bring back the core of a defense that dominated long stretches of last season.
They also have home-field advantage.
But this version of Brandon has enough talent to make the third meeting considerably different from the first two.
Robinson, Shack, Parker, Washington and Roberts give the Bulldogs high-level players at nearly every level of the field. If Brandon can protect the football and prevent Tupelo’s defense from creating the kind of avalanche it produced last season, the Bulldogs have enough offensive weapons to turn this into a four-quarter game.
For Tupelo, the formula is already proven: run the football, control the line of scrimmage and let one of Mississippi’s most athletic defenses create opportunities.
For Brandon, Friday is a chance to show the gap has closed.
For Tupelo, it is the first opportunity to show why the Golden Wave enter 2026 ranked No. 1.
And for Mississippi high school football fans, a matchup featuring two of the state’s top 12 preseason teams, both Class 7A preseason players of the year, 10 preseason all-state selections and a dozen ranked 2027 and 2028 prospects is about as good as opening night gets.
