The Hattiesburg Tigers took a huge step forward with a win at Picayune last week, and now they’re in the driver’s seat to win the region and earn the top seed in the 5A playoffs.
The Tigers’ (9-0, 5-0 in Region 4-5A) defense showed how tough and relentless they were against the Maroon Tide, because Picayune moved the ball throughout the entire game, but Hattiesburg stuck with it until the end. Picayune scored on every drive until a fourth-quarter fumble, then Hattiesburg stopped Picayune on fourth down as it was driving to retake the lead with less than a minute left to play.
The areas of concerned Friday night are easily correctable, though.
“I thought the kids played hard, but there were times where we were going for the turnover rather than securing the tackle,” Vance said. “We have to make sure we secure the tackles before we get the turnovers, but those are things we’ll correct on film when we show them.”
So, with two games left on the schedule, Hattiesburg must beat either Long Beach (6-3, 3-2) this week or West Harrison in the season finale to win the region title. The Tigers will want to go ahead and clinch it Friday night, and Vance said that topic will be discussed this week.
Hattiesburg has not won a region title since 1998.
“It’s something that will be in the front of our conversation when we speak to the team this week is to try and wrap it up,” Vance said. “We just have to make sure we take care of business and control what we can control.”
Long Beach’s sophomore quarterback, Cade Crosby, has 1,518 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions on 59 percent passing, and senior Charie Wescovich and junior Kai Vancourt are Crosby’s two biggest targets with 29 and 28 receptions, respectively. Westcovich has 468 yards and one touchdown to Vancourt’s 346 yards and two scores.
Senior Jaidon Evans leads the team with three touchdown receptions, though, and two came last week in a 56-28 win over West Harrison.
“Long Beach is a dangerous football team that throws it really well,” Vance said. “They’re a lot better than they were last year on both sides of the ball, but anytime a team throws it as well as they throw it, they always have a chance. They have a chance in every game they’re in.”
Long Beach’s losses to Greene County and Wayne County came down to one possession, while Picayune beat the Bearcats by 21.
Also on offense is junior Dennis Andrews, a player Vance and the Hattiesburg program are very familiar with.
“We know Dennis well,” Vance said. “He was here in middle school, so we, as coaches, know him, the kids know him and he’s a good player. We knew he would be after he moved down there after his eighth-grade year. He and a couple of our kids are best friends.”
Defensively, Vance says Long Beach features tall players in the secondary and good-sized defensive linemen. The secondary has collected nine interceptions and 22 pass deflections, and the defensive front has 12.5 sacks and 53.5 tackles for a loss.
“They’re a team we’re not going to take lightly, and we understand if we go and lay an egg, they’ll beat us,” Vance said. “We have to make sure our guys are focused on taking care of what we have to take care of this week.”
