Both Hattiesburg coach Tony Vance and Oak Grove coach Drew Causey had the same answer when asked about stopping the other team’s quarterback.
“You can’t,” both coaches said.
Hattiesburg senior Jarod “Snoop” Conner hasn’t been limited by any team he’s faced since taking over quarterback duties in 2017. On the other hand, Oak Grove senior John Rhys Plumlee has only been stopped by injuries. In fact, Plumlee missed the rivalry game last season due to a thumb injury he suffered the week prior.
“I don’t know if you can stop him,” Vance said. “I just think you have to slow him down and try to contain him.”
Plumlee has already put together 641 passing yards and nine touchdowns, adding 180 rushing yards and two scores. While he does have a couple of fumbles to his name, he’s thrown no interceptions to help Oak Grove start 3-0 for the second straight season.
Plumlee has been without his favorite target from 2017 all season, as senior Kevin Barnett remains out with a knee injury. This season’s No. 1 target, Brandon Hayes, missed last week’s game against Laurel with a foot injury. It’s unclear if he’ll be back this week, but Oak Grove still used an excess of playmakers to get the win over the Tornadoes.
Junior receiver Tavion Smith and sophomore Jordan Coleman both caught the first touchdowns of their varsity career, and sophomore E.J. Newell added 45 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
“Those guys had a great game,” Causey said. “They did everything we’ve asked them to do. The two tight ends (seniors Tyson Keys and Rasaiah Ruffin) played really well, so we have a lot of weapons on the outside that can be mismatch problems for a lot of people.”
Offensively for Hattiesburg, Conner only has 352 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception, but he creates the most damage with his feet. He’s rushed for 431 yards and eight scores on 65 carries.
“We plan on using about 14 people,” Causey said with a laugh. “Kind of like ours, I don’t know if you can really stop him. We just have to contain him a little bit and make some other guys beat us. That’s kind of the goal when you’re facing a great player. You want to limit what he can do, but it’ll definitely be a huge challenge because he’s one of the best players in the state.”
This will be the second straight season both teams enter this contest with perfect records. But this year feels different and both teams have state championship aspirations when November rolls around.
“It’s just a normal game. It’s just another week,” Causey said calmly. “The biggest difference with this one is we’re both undefeated, we both have really good football teams and we’re going to play in front of a lot of people Friday night.”
Hattiesburg opened the season with two straight rivalry games, and this will be the third rivalry matchup through the first four games of the season. Even though Moss Point hasn’t held up against Hattiesburg the past two seasons, even that game was a historic rivalry matchup.
“That’s what makes it so much fun,” Vance said. “Just one big game after another, one rivalry after another. Hattiesburg versus Oak Grove, what more can you ask for?”
Juniors Joey Griffith, Javarian Jenkins and Graham McCarty each have at least 20 tackles so far this season for Oak Grove, and the team is allowing 14.6 points per game to opponents.
“They’re very active,” Vance said. “Guys are going to be where they’re supposed to be. They’re not going to be out of place, they’re great tacklers in open field and they’ll try to get their defensive line to get a surge. They’re just really good on defense. They’re 3-0 for a reason.”
Defensively for the Tigers, junior Anthony Bullock is having an outstanding start to the season. Through three games, he has two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, including a pick-6. Senior Jaren Handy leads the team with six tackles for losses, including three sacks.
“There are a ton of athletes on the field and they do a good job with those guys,” Causey said. “We have to make sure we block them well and run through some tackles. We have to try to make it difficult for those guys.”
