Following last week's loss at No. 5 Northwest – the final against an MACCC North opponent – the Bears can now shift their focus back to South Division play and the first of three contests to close out the 2025 regular season.

The Bears (2-3, 1-2 MACCC) will make the short one hour, 15 minute drive north to Raymond Thursday to face No. 13 Hinds. Southwest is coming off of a tough 33-13 loss at Northwest while Hinds also came up on the short end of its last contest, a 31-21 decision at Jones.

The Eagles (4-2, 2-1 MACCC) rank third in the conference in yards per game with 437. Most the offensive success comes through the air as quarterback Jaylon Ruffin ranks second in the conference in passing with 1461 yards to go along with a touchdown to interception ratio of 16:2.

While the rushing attack has been the bread and butter of the Southwest offense through the first five weeks of the season, it was the passing game that made a big difference in the contest last week against the Rangers. Starter Charlie Fair completed 11-of-17 passes for 96 yards while Silas Corder who came on in relief had 163 yards and a score on 12-of-16 passing.

And while leading receiver Isaiah Jones did have two big catches against Northwest, it was the duo of Jac Comeaux and Keena Galloway who arguably stole the show as far as the Bears' pass-catchers. Comeaux caught a team-high seven passes for 91 yards while Galloway had four catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Another highlight was kicker Sergio Neyra who set a new career long with a 50-yard field goal.

Thursday's contest marks homecoming for the Eagles as the Bears will be looking for their second-consecutive win against Hinds following last season's 34-20 victory.

The Bears and the Eagles kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday from Renfroe Stadium in Raymond. The game will be broadcast live on BearTV (https://go.smccbears.tv/) and K106 (https://k106country.wordpress.com/stream/).