So here’s some not so fake news: Bay Springs has won its past four meetings vs. Stringer by a combined score of 158-18. That might be some unpleasant news to detail on the heels of yet another Battle of the Bell matchup scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday night in Stringer, but it’s the cold hard truth.
This year, though, could be different.
“I think it’s going to be a great competitive game,” said Bay Springs head football coach Dan Brady. “It’s going to be fun.
“The last three or four years we’ve just been the better team. We’ve had some pretty good class to come through. But now, this is the team Stringer folks have talked about for five years. Now we get to see if they’re going to do what they say they’re going to do.”
Stringer has the pieces to make a run for the Class 1A title. The Red Devils return nearly all of its starters on offense and defense, seven of which are seniors who play both sides of the ball. Leading the way is senior running back Anthony Thomas. Thomas complied 1,733 yards of total offense and 22 touchdowns, the majority of his yards (1,461) came on the ground.
“We took it on the chin last year,” said Stringer head coach John Brown. “But I felt that game made us better. We went on an eight or nine-game win streak after that.
“I hope to compete this year as well or better. These games make us a better team and get us ready for October.”
Some say this year’s team, comprised of 19 seniors and seven juniors, could be equal too or better than its 2012 team that claimed the school’s first 1A football title in nearly two decades.
“Our guys have a lot of snaps under their belt, that’s for sure,” Brown added. “They’ve played a lot of ball together since they were a freshman. The expectations [for these guys] are high, but you still have to play the game. Nobody is going to lay down and give it to you.”
Brady knows the level of talent he and his team is up against on Thursday night.
“They’re really good at a lot of different positions” Brady added. “Their two inside linebackers will be two of the best we’ll play against all year. Caleb Dyess [who is their quarterback] is an outstanding football player, then you throw Anthony Thomas in there who’s a great running back and will end up leaving Stringer as one of its top five or six best running backs [in school history].
“They’re a team [this year] that could even win a lot of games in 2A. They legitimately have a chance to make a run in 1A and win a state championship.”
Stringer isn’t the only Jasper County team with high expectations. Bay Springs returns an overwhelming majority of its starters on both sides of the ball in 2018. Last season the program went 8-6 and advanced to the third round of the Class 2A playoffs.
“They have a lot of speed,” said Brown. “They’re quick. If you let them get going on their outside runs, and you get tired and start to concentrate on that, they will bust you inside then. But their speed is what concerns me.”
Brady, a former Stringer standout who played on the offensive line at JCJC and Belhaven, has yet to lose against his alma mater since becoming Bay Springs head coach in 2014.
