Friday afternoon, Hattiesburg mayor Toby Barker penned a letter to the Laurel School staff to properly sanitize the famous "little brown jug" before handing it to Hattiesburg head coach Tony Vance. When the final whistle blew and several minutes of apparent sanitizing happened, Vance was able to hoist the jug in the air as the Tigers defeated the Laurel Golden Tornadoes 26-12.
“It looked like the first game of the year for both teams, but give credit to the defensive guys because they caused them. I think both of our teams will continue to get better. Hat off to both teams tonight, especially both defenses. Our guys came up time and time again with turnovers and big plays,” said Vance.
The first quarter of action featured turnovers from both sides as Laurel's Ajaveon Hatten picked off an errant pass. Hattiesburg's defense stepped up inside their own 30, forcing a Tornado turnover on downs.
Later in the quarter, it was Laurel who fumbled the ball resulting in the Tigers recovering, however, after Hattiesburg's ensuing possession stalled, they attempted a fake punt that came up short of the first down markers to give Laurel the ball back.
Points were finally scored in the second quarter as Powell found his receiver for a 21-yard touchdown to take a 6-0 lead with 7:35 left in the first half. Their point-after attempt was no good.
Turnover problems continued for Laurel as a bad snap gave Hattiesburg the ball close to midfield. The Tigers took the momentum from the turnover, converting it to points as Powell found Chanse Duckworth for a 43-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion gave Hattiesburg a 14-0 lead with just under four minutes left in the first half.
Hattiesburg kept the momentum as they recovered a short kick to keep possession, however, Laurel intercepted an errant pass.
The Tornadoes drove to the goal line, but with 36 ticks on the clock, Dexter Scott's pass was intercepted. Hattiesburg ended the half with a 14-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Laurel drove to the goal line, just two yards away from putting points on the board until Scott was intercepted by Tiger defender Walton Thompson to keep the score 14-0. With 60 seconds remaining in the quarter, Thompson picked off Baker again, coming away with his second interception in the quarter.
“Walt’s got “it.” He was a little banged up last week and didn’t play, but he’s a senior that continued to get better each year. Last season was his first year back playing football and he has gotten better each week,” stated Vance about Thompson.
Laurel began to rally in the fourth quarter when Baker found a Laurel receiver for a 32-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 14-6. Their two-point try was no good.
Laurel kept building momentum as they blocked a Hattiesburg punt attempt, then Kiron Benjamin scampered for an eight-yard touchdown run to pull within two, 14-12. However, Hattiesburg put the game away when Jaquez Andrews found a gap in the Tornado defense for a 38-yard touchdown run, then 19 seconds later, Makel Jones scored on a pick-six to extend their lead to 26-12.
A Josh Jones interception, their fifth of the game, sealed the game for the Tigers and final 26-12 score.
“I think the biggest thing about our guys up front [offensive linemen] is they are eager to want to get better. We know they are there to answer the bell when we need them to,” said Vance about the line of scrimmage battle.
What’s next
Laurel will travel to Petal (1-0) next week in a 6A vs. 5A showdown while Hattiesburg will travel to Oak Grove (1-0) in another 6A vs. 5A contest.
