The Purvis Tornadoes have owned the series with the Sumrall Bobcats, and it hasn’t been close. Purvis has a 10-game winning streak over its Highway 589 rival, and the two will open up Region 7-4A play Friday night in Sumrall.
The Bobcats, the proud owner of an undefeated 6-0 record, welcome a Tornadoes team that’s 1-4, but some wonder why this rivalry is played on the first week of region play. For Purvis coach Brad Hankins, it really doesn’t matter.
“I don’t know that I’d rather play that at all, as good as they are,” he said jokingly. “It is what it is. You have to play whoever they put in front of you, and we have to go get lined up and get after it.”
From the outside looking in, Sumrall appears to be rolling, and Hankins said as much after Friday’s loss to Seminary and reiterated it on Tuesday. When you bring up Purvis’ record to Sumrall coach Shannon White, he doesn’t want to talk about it, because he believes the Tornadoes are better than their record.
“We don’t see anything on film that looks any different than last year’s team or the year before,” White said. “I know their record is 1-4, but I’m telling you, some of the teams they’ve played are having outstanding years. We haven’t played their schedule, I promise you.”
White makes a good point. Purvis has played five games with a bye week so far, and two of those teams are still undefeated while another is a one-loss team. The five opponents for Purvis have a combined 20-8 record. On the slip side, the Bobcats have played two still-winless teams, as their six opponents combine for a 12-22 record.
The good news, however, is none of those games necessarily matter when the lights come on this Friday. Sure, it’s helped both teams learn a little more about itself, but Purvis and Sumrall now want to collect as many region wins as possible during the next five weeks.
Even though it’s a rivalry game, it doesn’t mean more than the other four games left on the schedule, both coaches said.
“We don’t talk about that,” White said of the rivalry. “I know the Purvis-Sumrall game is a big game for both schools, but as far as the coaches are concerned, it’s a district game, and they all count equally. They have the same goal as we’ve got, and that’s to win district games.”
Both teams struggled in different ways last week. Although Sumrall came away with the win, it turned the ball over four times in the 21-13 win. One of the turnovers resulted in a pick-6, too, so despite the offensive struggles, the Bobcats’ defense played well once again.
In the first half of Purvis’ 42-21 loss to Seminary, it had a hard time dealing with Seminary’s stout defensive line. The Tornadoes don’t get a break this week either, because they’ll face another tough defensive line when they match up with Sumrall.
On the other side of the ball, Purvis is used to seeing Sumrall’s Dannis Jackson at receiver, but now it’ll have to stop the senior, who has 611 passing yards and 675 rushing yards, at quarterback.
“He has (the ball) on every snap so it’s almost like the playbook is wide open,” Hankins said. “He is so electric back there. I don’t know if we could pull his flag if we were playing flag football. He’s so shifty and so gifted. I’ve seen three games on him, and I haven’t seen anybody get a clean hit on him. He makes you miss and when he turns the jets on, he can fly.”
