Hattiesburg imposed its will on rival Laurel.
The 103rd edition of the Battle for the Lil' Brown Jug will be remembered for how the Tigers lived in their archrival's backfield.
The short field position created by the Hattiesburg defense set up quarterback Deuce Vance's five-touchdown performance, which led to the Tigers' 46-7 victory over the Golden Tornadoes.
By the night's end, the Golden Tornadoes totaled negative 56 yards in offense – yes, you read that right.
"I can't say enough about our defense," said Hattiesburg coach Tony Vance, who enjoys his third straight win in the Jug game. "It set us up on short field several times.
"We hang our hat on our defense. People say it all the time that defense wins championships. We know that we have to have a great defense. We have to put that on display each and every week regardless of what goes on the other side of the ball."
Hattiesburg (2-0) recorded four sacks, forced two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Of Laurel's 33 offensive snaps, the Golden Tornadoes had 16 plays go for negative yardage. Three plays resulted in negative 62 yards for Laurel (0-2) due to three separate snaps going over their punter's head.
"We are just here to dominate," said Hattiesburg defensive lineman Justin Foster, who had two sacks and a fumble recovery. "There were a lot of people talking down about us last year, saying that we weren't the best. We have to own up to it. We say we are the best, so we have to play like we are the best."
"It was all about having fun, really."
Hattiesburg's defense has still yet to give up a touchdown this season. Laurel's lone score came in the second half after Deuce Vance had to come off the field for one play. Hattiesburg's backup quarterback bobbled a handoff, which allowed a Golden Tornado defensive lineman to come up with a scoop and score.
"This is one of the fastest defenses that I have ever coached," Vance said. "They are really fast on that side of the ball. We struggled to block them in practice. That's a solid group on that side of the ball. We have four seniors up front on the defensive line. They anchor it."
In the first quarter, Deuce Vance erupted for a 20-yard run that set up a touchdown for Jabrois Jones. He then connected with Tyree Barnett for an eight-yard touchdown to push the lead to 13-0. Short field position allowed Vance to score again on an eight-yard run just before the half.
"I feel like this is one of the best defenses that I have ever been around," Deuce Vance said.
"They play hard with a lot of energy. It's hard to score on those guys."
Much like the first half, Hattiesburg was gifted short field position, which allowed for Jones to score again. The Tigers quickly scored after its defense came down with an interception, and Vance broke away for a 45-yard touchdown run. The senior quarterback then connected with Tristen Keys for back-to-back touchdowns on Hattiesburg's final drives.
The offensive output was a welcome site after Hattiesburg scored just one touchdown last week. Vance was 11-for-23 and threw for 175 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for 88 yards and two scores. Keys came down with five catches for 68 yards and scores, while Barnett totaled 125 all-purpose yards.
"We had to establish the run game, and I thought we were able to do that tonight," Tony Vance said. We want to be able to continue to pass the ball. I thought we were able to do that effectively.
"I'm proud of our coaching staff for coming back from last week where we felt like we left some plays on the field. They came back this week and executed and made the scoreboard look the way it did. It was just a total team effort tonight."
Hattiesburg make the short trip next weekt to face crosstown rival Oak Grove.
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