The conventional wisdom relating to college football is, if you are going to lose a game, it&8217;s better to drop it early in the season rather than later. The reason being, voters tend to forget the early-season setback, and you can rebound in the polls and get a better bowl game, which equals a nice payday &8212; plus you&8217;ve got a positive spin in the recruiting season.

The logic concerning high school football is conceptually similar yet totally irrelevant. Obviously, high schools don&8217;t do bowl games. The playoffs are nirvana for the prep teams. Thus, the regional (conference) games are the &8216;be all&8217; as to qualification for and seeding in the playoffs. So if you have to lose a game, a loss in Week 1, 5 or 10 will not directly impede your march to a championship.

Let&8217;s jump right into our games for tonight shall we:

Demopolis (3-1) at Greensboro (0-4)

OK, everything I just wrote in the previous paragraph about high schools not having a bowl and it&8217;s not a sin to lose in week 5?

Forget about it.

This game is &8216;The Catfish Bowl&8217; as dubbed by my Tiger Nation radio cohort, Mike Randall.

As a matter of fact, many feel the opposite is true relating to this one, if you win but one game, win this one.

At face value you would be inclined to say this will be a cakewalk for the Tigers. But not so fast Mister Interlocutor. True G&8217;boro is winless but let&8217;s put the pigskin spectroscope on the Raiders.

The G-men were blown out in their first two outings &8212; Bibb County 49-8 and Cordova 60-12. Undefeated Bibb just moved past Demop in the 5A polls to No. 14 and the yet to lose Cordova Blue Devils hold the No. 3 spot in 3A. The Raiders played hard in their last two games but came up short against No. 11 3A Aliceville 27-7 and Carbon Hill 24-14.

The Royal Blue and White appears to have learned some lessons from the McAdory game and applied them over the past two weeks. Last week against Wilcox they looked strong against an outmanned group of Jaguars.

Demop should win this game, going away by two or three touchdowns, but in the end it may be a nail biter. Remember, this is &8216;The Catfish Bowl&8217; and the series always seems to make the underdog play over their heads. The Tigers must guard against looking past tonight&8217;s foe to the huge conference match up next week with Bibb. A win tonight would make Greensboro&8217;s season.

Back in the day, it was Linden vs. DHS that was the gut buster that counted for everything now it&8217;s &8216;The Catfish Bowl&8217;, hushpuppies and all.

Coffeeville (0-4) at John Essex (0-4)

When you are &8216;0-fer&8217; (as in winless) and are struggling, forget about what I said in paragraph two.

This is when you have to lay it all down, especially if you are the guys from Saltwell. Tonight may be the best chance to get into the win column, as after tonight Linden, Sunshine and Sweet Water are looming on the horizon.

Francis Marion (1-3) at Linden (3-1)

Ouch! A bulldog bite can really draw a stain on you, literally and figuratively.

LHS got chased up a tree last week by the Sweet Water &8216;Bullydawgs&8217;, it was not a pretty thing for Linden.

Last week, the Rams won their first of the year against Calhoun.

This week the 3A Perry County goats need to pack a lunch. If the injury situation is not too serious for Linden, then get ready for a Patriot score-a-thon.

Leroy (4-0) at Sweet Water (4-0)

Let&8217;s see now, the No. 1 team from 2A, Leroy, plays at the No. 1 team in 1A, Sweet Water, will there be any interest in this game?

Oh shut up. This is the biggest game in South Marengo since, well, last week against Linden.

Remember, paragraph two? Forget it. It does not apply in the least here.

It&8217;s a repeat of 2006 where the No. 1 Leroy Bears invited &8216;Da Dawgs&8217; down to play at their crib. SWHS took both Yogi and Boo-Boo Bears pic-a-nic basket while winning 35-6.

Southern (4-0) at Patrician (4-1)

Excuse me ladies, let the big boys by, they&8217;ve got some business to attend to.

Patrician has tasted the agony of defeat but once, which was the season opener against a pretty good Clarke Prep club.

Southern hasn&8217;t been scored on since their opener.

Spotlight question: If both teams have posted three shutouts against their opponents thus far this year, does the winner get a fourth?

Marengo (2-2) at Wilcox (1-4)

All together now in the key of E; Rollin&8217;, Rollin&8217;, Rollin&8217;- keep those dawgies rollin&8217; &8212; Rawhide (for Wilcox).

Notables from last week

Pancake of the week: Northridge 84, Paul Bryant 19

Left the Defense on the Bus: Greene County 62, Livingston 28

Low Ball of the week: Rehobeth 8, B.T. Washington 0

If we only had a kicker: J.U. Blacksher 21, Marengo 20

Longest game of the week: Russellville 30, J.O. Johnson 23 (OT)

Remember, Demopolis on the road tonight in Greensboro. Come to the game and do some tailgating; and of course, wear blue.

Until next time, play hard; play for fun; play to win.

Mike Grayson is contributing columnist to the Times.