Where has the time gone? We’re seven weeks into the regular season, so of course, I have a lot of thoughts regarding our area teams.
The Petal Panthers
I was fully prepared to write this after Petal lost to Oak Grove last week. I thought the Panthers would be 0-2 in district at this point, but I was ready to say they were still a good team and they should collect wins at the end of the region schedule.
However, Petal shocked the state and upset Oak Grove, which gives them a good boost for the rest of the region schedule. I’ll admit, I was wrong about Petal’s chances against Oak Grove, and that’s exactly why I don’t do predictions. It’s really hard to guess the outcome of high school football games, especially with rivals.
Every game in Region 3-6A will be tough, but I thought once Petal finished its game with Brandon this week, it’ll have a nice opportunity to collect four straight wins to close the regular season. That would, I assume, give Petal at least the No. 4 spot in the playoffs.
With the win over Oak Grove, it takes a little pressure off and it gave the Panthers a little momentum heading into the final month of the season. I like this Petal team, but the first seven games of the schedule were very difficult. Regardless of its record after this Friday’s game, which is the final contest of the grueling first seven games, I thought it had a chance to make some noise. Last Friday proved it.
Hello, Purvis
I wrote it the last time I shared my thoughts on the area teams, but I fully expected Purvis to rebound after its slow start to the season. Now, the Tornadoes have won two games in a row and they’re 1-0 in the region, which is the only thing that matters at this point.
This season, however, the region is a lot tougher than it’s been in the past couple of seasons. Poplarville and Greene County have proven to be the top two teams in the district, so Purvis will have to collect wins against the lesser teams in the region.
It had a good start last week against Sumrall, and I expect this team to continue to improve.
There’s still time
For teams like Sacred Heart and Sumrall, there’s still plenty of time to make some noise. Both the Crusaders and Bobcats are off to a 0-1 start in their respective region, but the season is a long way from being finished. I fully expect both teams to push for a playoff spot, but it starts this week.
The Crusaders will have to stop a good rushing attack from East Marion, while Sumrall is faced with Lawrence County, a team that’s playing its first season in this region.
The consistent Tigers
The Hattiesburg Tigers have been the model of consistency through the first seven weeks of the season. The Tigers are getting solid quarterback play from Snoop Conner, the running backs plus Conner are providing a scary three-headed monster out of the back field and the passing game is deadly, too. On defense, Hattiesburg has faced some stiff offenses, but nothing has overwhelmed the unbeaten Tigers.
After playing two close games to start the season – a high-scoring affair at Petal and a low-scoring slugfest at Laurel – Hattiesburg has had four straight comfortable wins. Of its last five contests left on the schedule, I see two games, maybe three, that could cause some problems. Of course, Picayune is the team to beat in the region, and besides Hattiesburg, there’s not really a clear No. 3.
Follow Camal on Twitter via @PineBeltSPORTS or email him: camal@PineBeltSPORTS.com
