Water Valley is not out of the playoffs yet. Mathematically, they are still not eliminated from a postseason berth into the MHSAA Class 3A playoffs, but they will need a lot of help from others as well as themselves.

Winless in Region 2-3A, the Blue Devils return home for their final two games of the regular season, starting Friday when they host Holly Springs (7 p.m., 105.5 FM).

Holly Springs (1-8) and Water Valley (1-8) both are sitting at the bottom of the region standings with a record of 0-3 and in need of a change of fortune these final two weeks if they are going to make a run at the fourth seed and continue playing in November.

“Obviously we’ve got to win these last two,” Water Valley coach Brad Embry said. “To do that, we need to continue to improve last week, especially the first three quarters against a good football team. That’s the things we’ve got to be able to do. Not just play three quarters but play four quarters. But you know, that’s the point we’re at right now. We’ve got to take what we can get. We did get better and we’d been asking for that.”

The Blue Devils suffered their seventh straight loss last week at the hands of North Panola in their final road game of the regular season. Holly Springs is riding a five-game losing skid, including last week’s 45-0 loss at the hands of Charleston. Last year, Water Valley traveled up Highway 7 and defeated Holly Springs 38-0. It may not be a high scoring affair for either team this year as Holly Springs is averaging 10.3 points a game, while the Blue Devils are doing just a touchdown better (17.5).

“They’re pretty athletic, so that kind of concerns me,” Embry said of Holly Springs. “Their pure athleticism on different spots on the field. So that’s something we’ll have to be able to handle. It is at Water Valley, so I like that. Our kids, I hope believe that they’ve gotten better. I’ve told them that, and I hope they believe that and it gives them a little confidence.”

The winner of Friday night’s contest will still have a faint shot of making the playoffs and chasing down M.S. Palmer, which currently sits in that fourth position with a 1-2 record. Holly Springs already faced Palmer and lost 34-7 on Oct. 7, which would give the tiebreaker to the Dragons if Holly Springs pulled out the win at Bobby Clark Field. What works in Water Valley’s favor is they have not faced Palmer and will do so in the season finale next week, who must first face a 3-0 Charleston Friday night.