LAUREL – Last week, Hattiesburg senior linebacker Dexter Jordan sat on the sidelines against Petal with his No. 8 jersey on, but without shoulder pads or a helmet. He had just rejoined the team after not playing his junior season, and was held out of the game because he just started practice that week.
On Saturday against Laurel, he sealed the game with an interception in the end zone to help secure Hattiesburg’s fourth-straight Little Brown Jug, beating the Golden Tornadoes 20-14.
“I read it really well,” Jordan said. “They were trying to get something over the middle, you know, and we tried to use our mike linebacker as a threat. So, I dropped back and did what coach said, and the ball came right to me.”
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At that moment, the Hattiesburg defense was on its heels. Trailing 20-14, Laurel got the ball back with 1:46 left in the game on its own 20-yard line. A reverse play to Juan Nelson gained 49 yards, then a quarterback sneak from Xavier Evans pushed the ball to the Hattiesburg 22.
Facing a fourth-and-10, a Hattiesburg defensive back was called for pass interference, and that put the ball on the Tigers’ 10-yard line. After an incompletion in the end zone, Jordan made the game-winning play.
“Keep playing hard, we can’t stop. They still have to score,” Jordan said of the message to the defense during the drive. “When they got down there, they still had 30 yards to score, so we had to play. When we play hard, good things happen like that.”
Hattiesburg took its first lead of the game midway through the fourth quarter after junior quarterback Jarod “Snoop” Conner punched it in from the 1-yard line with less than seven minutes to play. That scoring drive started on Laurel’s 35-yard line after senior Braxton Thomas recorded an interception.
“Two great plays by defensive guys,” Vance said. “I’m proud of our defense. I thought they grew up tonight and played a heck of a ballgame. Offensively, we struggled tonight and didn’t execute some things we should have executed, but defense picked us up and got us the victory tonight. That’s what it’s all about.”
It took seven plays to travel the 35 yards, and Conner had to run the ball three times inside the 7-yard line to find pay dirt. Conner led the team with 78 yards on the ground with two scores while throwing for 138 yards on 12-of-24 passing with a touchdown and an interception.
Hattiesburg coach Tony Vance seemed to put the ball in his hands in every crucial situation Saturday night.
“No doubt,” Vance said. “He’s a guy who’s coming into his own. He’s done a great job of taking care of the football when he’s running it, and he’s only going to get better. He completed some big passes tonight, and he converted some huge third downs for us. He’ll continue to get better in every regard. I’m proud of him.”
The first score of the night came late in the first quarter when Laurel put together a 10-play, 76-yard drive. Junior Zias Perryman finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Golden Tornadoes a 7-0 lead.
That was the first time either team moved the ball significantly, as Laurel’s first drive ended in a three-and-out, and the second was halted due to a fumble that put Hattiesburg in good position to break the 0-0 tie.
With the ball at Laurel’s 47, Hattiesburg moved the ball to the 24-yard line, but a fourth down conversion failed. That’s when Laurel put together its touchdown drive to put the game’s first points on the board.
The Tigers answered two drives later, however, as they put together a seven-minute, 16-play drive. Conner finished it by pushing it in from the 3-yard line to tie the game 7-7.
The teams went into halftime with the same score, but Laurel came out firing on its first drive in the second half. On first-and-10 from the their own 49, Evans found Kobie Ulmer down the right side for a 51-yard score to give the Tornadoes a 14-7 advantage.
Hattiesburg answered nearly two minutes later with a Conner to D’andre Humbles touchdown connection to tie the game again, 14-14. On third-and-10 from the 50, Conner found Humbles for a 35-yard gain, then two plays later the two linked for the 14-yard score.
Hattiesburg took the lead midway through the fourth, when Conner scored from the 1, but the extra point was no good, setting the game up for the dramatic finish.
Laurel went three-and-out on its ensuing drive, then Hattiesburg was forced to punt with 1:46 left to play on its next drive.
“When you come between the bricks, or when you come to D.I. Patrick, if it’s the Little Brown Jog, it’s not going to be easy,” Vance said. “It’s always going to be interesting, I can promise you that.”
Hattiesburg 20,
Laurel 14
Score by Quarter
Hattiesburg 0 7 7 6—20
Laurel 7 0 7 0—14
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
L—Perryman 4 run, (kick good), 0:07.
Second Quarter
H—Conner 3 run, (kick good), 2:04.
Third Quarter
L—Ulmer 51 pass from Evans, (kick good), 8:53.
H—Humbles 14 pass from Conner, (kick good), 6:50.
Fourth Quarter
H—Conner 1 run, (kick no good), 6:39.
TEAM STATISTICS
HHS LHS
First Downs 17 13
Rushes-Yards 42-129 31-187
Att-Comp-Int. 24-12-1 17-7-2
Passing Yards 138 111
Total Plays-Yards 66-267 48-298
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 4-1
Punts-Avg. 4-35 5-31
Penalties 11-92 6-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Hattiesburg: Conner 17-78 2 TDs; Franklin 10-35; Allen 12-12; Willis 2-3.
Laurel: Evans 12-102; Nelson 1-49; Perryman 11-40; Bester 5-24.
Passing
Hattiesburg: Conner 12-of-24, 138 yds., TD, INT.
Laurel: Evans 7-of-17, 111 yds., TD, 2 INTs.
Receiving
Hattiesburg: Humbles 6-81; Ruffin 5-45; Willis 1-12.
Laurel: Ulmer 1-51; Henderson 1-22; Nelson 2-10; Gordon 1-9; Bester 1-9.
