The latest chapter of the Leaf River rivalry between Hattiesburg and Petal proved to be one of the most competitive games of opening week. The teams exchanged blows in Saturday night’s first quarter, and Petal made a late push in the fourth. But in the end, Hattiesburg dodged the rain and Petal’s comeback attempt, beating the Panthers for a second straight year, 35-26.
“It’s always good to win and beat your crosstown rival,” said Tiger coach Tony Vance. “We still got a ways to go to catch up in that series, so we’re just glad to put one in the win column on our side tonight.
“I tell people all the time when we play Petal, they’re going to be well-coached, and we probably won’t play a team any better coached all year.”
Quarterback and recent Memphis commit Jarod “Snoop” Conner led the way offensively for Hattiesburg, accounting for over 300 total yards and four touchdowns. Drexlan Allen added 112 yards on the ground, while Darius Ruffin caught four passes for 97 yards and a score.
“We had some guys step up tonight,” said Vance. “Darius Ruffin had a huge game for us. Drex was Drex, and Snoop was Snoop.”
Snoop led the Tiger offense right down the field on the game’s first possession. Just over three minutes into the game on a fourth and goal from the one-yard line, Auburn commit Jaren Handy capped the drive off with a rushing touchdown.
Petal answered with a touchdown drive of their own, tying the game at 7-7 when Micah McGowan broke a few tackles and scored on a 27-yard run.
Hattiesburg proceeded to score 14 straight points in the first half off a pair of touchdown runs from Conner. With just seconds left in the half, Petal added a score off a DeCarlos Nicholson-to-Rashad Handford connection, so Hattiesburg took a 21-14 lead into halftime.
Nicholson, a junior, was making his first varsity start at quarterback for the Panthers.
On Petal’s first possession of the second half, he drove the Panthers down the field for another touchdown. Handford finished the job by scoring from the one-yard line. The ensuing extra point was missed, so Hattiesburg retained its lead at 21-20.
Hattiesburg then answered with another 14-point outburst. Conner added his third rushing score of the night with 4:20 left in the third quarter, and three minutes later, he hit Darius Ruffin for a 58-yard touchdown. Heading to the fourth quarter, Hattiesburg’s lead was up to 35-20.
As previously mentioned, Petal made a late push in the fourth. With 5:48 left to play, McGowan scored his second rushing touchdown of the night to cut Hattiesburg’s lead to 35-26. And on the Tigers’ next offensive possession, Panther defensive back Michael Windham picked off Conner and put the Petal offense back on the field.
The Panthers eventually turned the ball over on downs though, allowing the Tigers to run out the remainder of the clock.
“I thought our kids played hard,” said Petal coach Marcus Boyles. “I just didn’t think we executed very well.
“We gotta improve in all areas. We gotta catch the ball better, we gotta throw the ball better, block better, run better and tackle better.”
Petal (0-1) will be back in action next Friday at Gulfport, while Hattiesburg (1-0) is looking to retain the Little Brown Jug for a fifth year in a row Saturday night at home against Laurel.
