HATTIESBURG – When PCS and West Marion kicked off the season in 2016, it took the PCS until the second half to jumpstart its offense. The Trojans dominated the first half, but the Bobcats turned the table and finished with five interceptions and nearly 300 rushing yards on offense in a huge win.
When the teams meet Thursday night, both will look completely different than last season’s team. PCS has to replace a lot of offense, which includes moving junior Brandon Thornton from receiver to quarterback.
“Brandon is doing well,” PCS coach Joey Hawkins said. “He’s doing a good job of leading, he’s making some really good throws, but it’s just going to take some game reps to get to where he wants to be. It’s a process. He’s tough, durable and he’s a winner, so we feel good about him.”
Hawkins said in July it might take up to six weeks to find the perfect identity on offense, and that included the three weeks during the preseason and the first few games.
“We have so many guys who are stepping in to take places of really good players (from last season), and that’s just going to take some time,” Hawkins said. “We feel like we’re mapping out, based on the talent we have, what we’re going to try and do to move the chains.”
The Trojans’ defense lost their leading tackler, but they return five of their top eight tacklers.
“They do a good job,” Hawkins said. “They attack pretty well, they have skill in the secondary, defensive front is always active and the linebackers are always good. It’s just a good test for us. It’s a game that is going to come down to four or five plays.”
West Marion will have to replace a 3,000-yard quarterback who threw for 37 touchdowns, and its top receiver, who caught 85 receptions for 1,427 yards and 19 touchdowns. Senior Charles Lewis is back at running back, though, and he rushed for 794 yards and eight touchdowns on 153 carries.
With all of the new players, Hawkins still likes what he sees from the Trojans’ offense. The offense will also put them in a position to have to make difficult decisions.
“They have some really nice receivers,” Hawkins said. “They always do. He gets their offense gelling pretty fast, and they love to spread the field, so you have to tackle in space. With this big guy who’s hammering the ball inside, you can’t take too many people out of the box to defend the spread. They’ll put a lot of pressure on our defense.”
PCS hosts West Marion on Thursday at 7 p.m.
