Not many schools play three straight rivalry games to start the season.
But Hattiesburg’s season begins with a regular gauntlet with Petal, Laurel and Oak Grove.
“We are probably the only school in the state that has three straight rivalry games to start the season,” Hattiesburg coach Tony Vance said. “With those rivalry games, you can throw the records out the window. You never know how kids are going to react to the fans.”
The Tigers took down Petal last week 7-3, and now on what is without question Hattiesburg’s biggest rivalry.
“People ask me all the time who our biggest rival is, and it’s hard not to say Laurel,” Vance said. “When you have played for 103 years of the Lil’ Brown Jug game, then it’s hard not to say that this is the biggest rivalry.”
“I think if you talk to anybody from Laurel, they will probably say the same thing. It’s a huge for us and a huge game for them. We are looking forward to it.”
Hattiesburg currently leads the all-time series record at 51-50-5, with the Tigers having won the last two meetings. Despite Hattiesburg winning last year 37-28, the Golden Tornadoes went on to reach the Class 5A championship game.
Oddly enough, both teams entered this year’s game having scored only one touchdown last week. Unlike Hattiesburg, Laurel was on the opposite end of the scoreboard after the Golden Tornadoes suffered a 34-6 loss to rival West Jones, which is the defending Class 6A champs.
“That’s pretty unusual between Hattiesburg and Laurel,” said Vance of the low-scores. “We like being on the side that we are on.”
Notably, Laurel was without three-star wide receiver Zechariah Jenkins.
Despite the final score, Laurel trailed West Jones 7-0 at halftime, but West Jones’ running back Elijah Crosby ran for 226 yards and four touchdowns. The Mustangs totaled 421 yards on the ground and averaged 9.1 yards per carry.
“I think if you watched the game that it wasn’t as lopsided as the score indicated,” Vance said. “(West Jones) did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage. That’s where it is one and loss on most Friday nights is the line of scrimmage. West did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage. They kind of imposed their will down the stretch and hit some big plays in the run game. There were just a few missed tackles here and there, and it’s a different ball game.”
Against Petal, Hattiesburg rushed for just 88 yards, with quarterback Deuce Vance leading the team with 47 yards. Vance did throw for 187 yards and finished 12-for-25.
“You have to give the Petal Panthers credit,” Vance said. “There guys are going to be where they are supposed to be, and I thought they did a good job defensively of taking away things that we wanted to do, but some of it was self-inflicted.”
“(Laurel is) so good on defense every year. It doesn’t matter how many stars they have or don’t have back; they are really good on defense each and every year. Nothing is different. It’s some new guys, but it’s the same scheme. They are good at what they do.”
Hattiesburg will host Laurel at D.I. Patrick Stadium on Friday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
“Anytime you play Laurel they are always going to be capable of the big play in the passing game,” Vance said. “They are always going to be athletic at receiver and running back. The quarterback is always going to be a dual-threat guy who can beat you at any point in time. It’s a team that may not have scored much last week, but I promise you they have our full attention knowing that Laurel is going to be Laurel, and it’s the jug game.”
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