Not every team can go undefeated, and in reality, only one team in each classification can finish with a perfect record – if that even happens.
After a 7-0 start to the season, the Sumrall Bobcats suffered their first loss of the season last Friday at Lawrence County. Sumrall had a chance to win at the end, but missed opportunities earlier in the game cost the Bobcats.
“Two good teams were playing in a close ballgame, and it came down to the end,” Sumrall coach Shannon White said. “We didn’t make the plays we needed to make. If we had played a better first quarter, we may have won the game.”
It’s always tough to lose the first game of the season, but it’s especially tough when it comes eight games into the season. Something White and the players have said all season was they didn’t get too emotionally high after a win. They returned to work on Monday to try and get another win.
After Friday night’s loss, White doesn’t see a change in his team’s mentality.
“The sun came up the next day,” he said. “We’re 7-1 and we have three big games left that are all important. We can’t get too high or too low in this business. I don’t think we got too high when we were 7-0. I think we’re a pretty even keel team and we’re going to move on. We preach that. Whatever happens the previous Friday, you learn from it good or bad and you move on. We’re in good shape.
“We’re disappointed, for sure, but we’re moving on.”
Sumrall will have to move on quickly because it travels down to Poplarville Friday night. The Hornets have advanced to the 4A South State Championship the last two years, making a state championship appearance in 2016, and they’ve put together a 31-4 record since the start of the 2016 season.
Poplarville lost its 2,300-yard rusher from last season, but it has reloaded with another run-heavy offense. Junior Ethan Taylor leads the way with 565 rushing yards and five scores on 42 carries, and senior Tyson Holston is second with 390 yards and four touchdowns on 42 rushing attempts.
As a team, Poplarville has totaled 2,175 yards and 33 touchdowns on 246 carries, and two more rushers have at least 300 yards while another has 250.
Since Sumrall and Poplarville have joined the same region in 2015, the Hornets have outscored the Bobcats 158-9.
“I don’t know if anybody has stopped it,” White said of Poplarville’s rushing attack the last few seasons. “They’re really amazing and it’s a huge challenge for our defense. They’ve had their way with us. We haven’t played them in a close game in probably six or seven years. Their offense is really, really something and it’s hard to defend.”
In the season-opening loss to Picayune, Poplarville allowed a season-high 28 points. Since, Seminary scored 25 points, but no other team scored more than 14 points. White said the Hornets will play a 5-2 defensive front with man coverage, and that’s something they’ve hung their hat on for a couple of years now.
Poplarville’s defense has shut down Sumrall senior Dannis Jackson at receiver the last few years, so it remains to be seen how the Hornets handle Jackson at quarterback.
White doesn’t expect anything different from the defense, though, because no team has played differently to game plan for Jackson’s skillset.
“You defend blocking schemes more than you defend people,” White said. “We’ll block, they’ll react to it and they’ll tackle the ball carrier. There’s nothing special they’ll do for Dannis, and I don’t think anybody has. We haven’t seen that yet. People play defense and they have to know where he’s at to tackle him. They don’t overload a side, put extra people in the box or anything like that, so what we prepare for each week is what defense they’ve been playing.”
