Bay Springs and Lumberton are a pair of consistent state title contenders in their respective classes.
Last year Lumberton edged out Bay Springs 24-22. Both teams again find themselves to be contenders, with each team reloaded on talent.
“They are very well-coached,” Lumberton coach Zach Jones said. “Dan Brady does a good job there. They know their system inside and out. They run the wing-t and know what they want to do. His players are really comfortable with it. It was only a 24-22 ball game last year, and I figure it’ll be another nail biter this year. Whoever makes more mistakes and whoever is in better shape, I think, will win the ball game. “
The Bulldogs have a variety of options to hand the ball off in their Wing-T offense. Bay Springs returns the centerpiece of their offense with junior running back Tyrick Jones, who ran for 1,204 yards and 17 touchdowns.
“They have a sophomore running back who has some Division I offers,” Jones said. “He’s a big kid that is over 200 pounds. He is one of the better young backs that I have seen. Last year he was a very brilliant football player, and I know this year he will be even better. Looking at the film that we have, he looks even bigger, and for a big kid, he has (speed). I think he is one of the better football players in South Mississippi, and we are going to have our hands full on Friday night.”
Bay Springs also returns their other two top rushers with seniors Chase Wilson and LaMarcus Stubbs, who combined to run for 1,143 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“We know we have to tackle (Jones), but their other halfbacks and fullbacks are also very capable,” Jones said. “We have to make some tackles.
“(Bay Springs has) got two or three backs that are slick and do a very good job of blocking in that Wing-T. I think skill-wise I know they are going to be one of the better teams that we face this year. They are always in the hunt for the championship in 2A and I don’t see that being any different this year.”
Bay Springs also returns four of their top five tacklers on a defense that held teams to 14 points per game. This includes linebackers Zyon Ross and Nick Agee, who are the team’s top returning tackles and bring a combined 146 tackles. In addition to them, Jones said that the Bulldogs’ defensive ends and defensive line are one of the key points of their defense.
“They run a 4-man front and fly to the football really well,” Jones said. “They have big defensive ends and do a good job not letting you go outside. We’re going to have to do a much better job of blocking this Friday night than we did this past Friday night. Their secondary guys all cover well and tackle well. That’s one thing that really stuck out on film is that they tackle really well. That’s the mark of a well-coached football team.”
Lumberton tied West Marion 6-6 in its scrimmage last week. Jones was overall satisfied with his team’s performance but wants to clean up the offensive miscues heading into Week 1.
“I wasn’t satisfied, but I was happy,” Jones said. “I thought we had some bright spots. The kids have worked really hard. I think our defense is ahead of our offense, which I think is the case for most people. I was really happy with our defense and how they played. Offensively we had some linemen get thrown into the fire. I think it’ll help us down the road. I was happy with what I saw. We have a long way to go, but there are certainly bright spots in everything we saw.
“Our main thing is that we are trying to take care of us. We had some mistakes that we have to fix. It’s hard to beat anybody when you make mistakes, especially against a good football team. We want to be the best that we can be.”
