It hasn’t happened too often this season, but the Hattiesburg Tigers showed they were human last Friday at Gautier. They trailed after one quarter of play for the first time this season. Entering the game, Hattiesburg had only fallen behind an opponent for less than three minutes of game time through the four games prior.
It didn’t last long, however. Gautier led 13-6 with five minutes left in the first half before the Tigers scored 37 unanswered points on their way to a 40-13 win.
“They came out playing on fire, and we came out not playing well at all, just to be honest. We played sluggish,” Hattiesburg (6-0) coach Tony Vance said.
It was the first time all season Hattiesburg didn’t have a 100-yard rusher and 200 yards on the ground as a team. The bright spot on offense was senior receiver Darius Ruffin, who caught four passes and totaled 112 of the team’s 131 receiving yards with two scores. He now has 406 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 22 receptions, and he has 55 percent of the team’s receiving yards this season with slightly less than half of the team’s receptions.
“He’s been consistent for us the last two years,” Vance said. “I think that’s one of the best words to describe him. He continues to make plays for us when we have to have them.”
The Gators are a team that tries to make their opponents pass the ball to beat them by blitzing and with pressure while playing man coverage in the secondary. This week, Vance says his offense will see something similar when Hattiesburg travels to Stone Friday night.
Stone (1-3) played three tough opponents to start the season 0-3. Two 6A schools, Harrison Central and Biloxi, earned wins over the Tomcats before 4A power Poplarville handed them their third loss. Stone bounced back last week with a 56-13 win over West Harrison to start district play. Vance said he didn’t see anything different in the win than in the losses.
Statistics provided are only from the first three games, but Stone is a running team with 127 attempts compared to just three passing attempts, and it has totaled 839 yards on the ground. However, the one pass completion did go for 78 yards and a touchdown.
“They’re much better than the record indicates,” Vance said. “I think they’re a tough, physical team. They’re going to run the ball down your throat. It’s what they like to do and it’s not going to be a secret of where the ball is going.”
Opponents scored an average of 37 points a game in the first three losses before the defense had its best game last week, only allowing West Harrison to score 13. The Tomcats will sell out to stop Hattiesburg quarterback Jarod “Snoop” Conner and running Drexlan Allen on the ground, so the Conner to Ruffin connection through the air could have another big game.
“Defensively, they play a lot of aggressive man coverage,” Vance said. “They bring a lot of blitzes and pressure. They’ll try to make you make plays in the passing game, and they’ll try to take away the run game with their blitzes and stuff.”
