TERRY — For the second year in a row Hattiesburg is Region 3-6A champions.
Behind a fast start along with a defense that created four turnovers the Tigers got past Terry 48-21 on Thursday night at Bulldog Stadium to claim the district championship.
Hattiesburg (8-2) will host Pearl River Central in the First Round of the MHSAA Class 6A playoffs next Friday night, while Terry (8-2) will travel to Pascagoula.
“Our motto is when we start fast nobody can hang with us and let’s go out and win the Super Bowl,” said Hattiesburg coach Kendall Lacey. “We treat every week like it’s the Super Bowl, so we made sure we jumped on them and brought the intensity.”
The Tigers scored on their offensive first play as Gavin Ducksworth hit Davion Young on a 34-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead with 9:02 left in the first quarter.
Edgar Rivera connected on a 24-yard field goal to extend the Hattiesburg lead to 10-0 with 9:59 left in first quarter.
The Tigers extended their lead to 17-0 on a Joshua Marshall 1-yard run with 5:19 left in the first half.
Hattiesburg scored on the first possession of the second half on a Young 6-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead to 24-0.
On Terry’s next possession the Tigers blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone by Anthony Ponce for a touchdown to give Hattiesburg a 31-0 lead 7:25 left in the fourth quarter.
Rivera connected on a 34-yard field goal to give Hattiesburg a 34-0 lead with 6:02 left.
Terry got on the board as Ronde Baker scored on a 33-yard run to cut the lead to 34-7.
On Hattiesburg’s next possession, Cole Reed picked up a fumble off a lateral and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown for the Bulldogs to cut the lead to 34-14 with 1:19 left in the third quarter.
Baker then scored on a 6-yard run to cut the lead to 34-21 with 7:48 left in the fourth quarter.
Hattiesburg answered as Young scored on a 28-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 41-21 with 7:25 left. Young finished with 79 yards receiving and 54 yards rushing with three touchdowns to lead the Tigers.
“We already knew it was going to be a hyped-up game, and we felt the intensity so we just knew we had to start fast and defense got a stop so we had to get the ball in the end zone,” Young said. “We knew that they were so spread out on defense and focus on the run that we were going to use our receivers in space. When I get the ball I know I’m going to score and now we’re region champs. Now we got to go in and grind each week and treat every game like it’s the Super Bowl.”
Marshall sealed the game with a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown to give the Tigers the 48-21 lead with 2:50 left in the game.
“Our goal was to come out, start fast and finish,” Lacey said. “Everybody thought our defense was so young because we lost a lot, so all year we were the no name defense and no one knows who we are and we’re young. They’ve gotten better each and every week and tonight was the product of that. District champs and now we don’t have to go on the road until Starkville if we make it that far.”
Baker finished with 161 yards rushing with two touchdowns to lead Terry.
