The record doesn’t look good, but don’t be fooled. The Purvis Tornadoes could be turning the corner and figuring things out. After earning their first win before the bye week two weeks ago, the Tornadoes hung tough with undefeated Mendenhall last Friday.
Purvis led the Tigers after the first quarter before falling behind 14-8 at the half. In the end, Mendenhall was just a better team at this point of the season. Don’t forget, Purvis won the rematch in the postseason in 2017.
“We played well in the first half,” Purvis coach Brad Hankins said. “They’re a great football team and we left some opportunities out there offensively, I thought.”
Sophomore Wayne Ray had another 100-yard game, as he continues to prove he’s the real deal, but Purvis also got back senior Brian Bennett after he missed the first three games of the season.
Bennett rushed the ball six times and he played defense Friday, and Hankins hopes he’ll continue to improve each week as region play starts in two weeks.
“We’re glad to have him back with us,” Hankins said. “Hopefully every week he’ll just get stronger and be ready to roll once we get to division play. It’s a good changeup for us. Wayne is more a slasher and Brian is more a downhill guy. We’re going to do some things with both of them in the backfield together.”
But before region action begins, which starts with a road game to Sumrall Sept. 28, the Tornadoes travel to Seminary Friday. The Bulldogs are 2-3 overall and they’re coming off a 28-18 win against Raleigh. They also have a win over winless Franklin County and they’ve lost to Collins, Poplarville and Taylorsville, which have a combined record of 12-2.
Seminary runs a wing-T offense that averages 257 yards per game and it has two players with more than 250 rushing yards. Sophomore Marquis Crosby leads the offense with 388 yards and five touchdowns on 42 carries, and junior Jordan Barrett adds 254 yards on the ground and three scores on 53 attempts.
Hankins said his defensive players will have to know their responsibilities because the offense will run a ton of misdirection.
Teams are scoring 27 points per game on Seminary, but the defense has put up impressive numbers this season. Senior Mississippi State commit Nathan Pickering averages six tackles per game and he’s picked up 15 tackles for a loss with five sacks.
He also has three offensive touchdowns, but what impresses Hankins the most is his ability to play all over the defensive line successfully. It makes it that much harder to game plan against him.
“They do such a good job of moving him around,” Hankins said. “They’ll play him at strongside defensive end, weak side and they’re playing him at nose guard. So it’s a test.”
