By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Jarod Conner may or may not wear a blue shirt with a big S on the front under his jersey, but there isn’t much doubt that the Hattiesburg quarterback is Superman for the Tigers.
Conner, the talented senior who has committed to the University of Memphis, rushed for 246 yards on 32 carries and four touchdowns Saturday night in guiding Hattiesburg to a 41-20 victory over Laurel in the 97th annual Battle for the Little Brown Jug at D.I. Patrick Stadium.
HHS (2-0), ranked second in the Mississippi Gridiron statewide rankings, won the Jug for the fifth consecutive season, prompting the gleeful Tigers to wave five fingers in the air as they hoisted the trophy. No. 9 Laurel dropped to 1-1 for the season.
“I have no words to describe (Conner),” said Hattiesburg coach Tony Vance. “He’s a winner, man. He didn’t throw the ball extremely well, but he did the things we needed to get first downs and win the ball game.”
The Tigers’ celebration was muted somewhat after an incident that happened with 2:02 remaining in the game and Hattiesburg driving for its final touchdown.
A stampede of fans from the visitor’s bleachers led to both teams leaving the field and delaying the completion of the game.
According to Hattiesburg Public School District officials, a fight under the bleachers resulted in one participant fleeing to a bathroom, and the slamming of the door caused a rumor of gunfire to spread through the bleachers, resulting in a sudden exodus from the stands.
No one was injured in the incident and no arrests were made.
It did produce an anticlimactic finish to what had been a thrilling contest between two of the state’s heavyweight programs.
Hattiesburg took the opening kickoff and Conner was successful on three straight pass plays to tailback Drexlan Allen, moving the ball to the Laurel 37-yard-line. Conner’s first run of the night, an 18-yard scamper, and a 5-yard pick-up by Allen got the Tigers to the Tornado 14.
But Laurel stiffened, knocking Conner back for a 5-yard loss, then sacking him for a 7-yard loss. Conner completed a pass to Darius Ruffin on fourth down, but the Tornadoes stopped the senior wideout two yards short of the first-down marker.
“We wanted to come out throwing, because we felt like that would back them off a little bit,” said Conner. “We knew they were going to give us those sideline patterns, so we just took what they gave us.”
Conner was a workmanlike 10 of 19 passing for 96 yards. Most importantly, he was not intercepted, nor did the Tigers lose a fumble.
It took the Tiger defense a little time to adjust, though, as Tornado quarterback Sinclair Ulmer completed a third-down pass for 43-yards to Jontarius Henderson to key a scoring drive after the initial fourth-down stop. Ulmer got the score on a 22-yard run with 2:58 to play in the first quarter.
Trailing for the first time this season, Hattiesburg went right back to work on offense and this time got the ball in the end zone on a 16-yard run by Conner to cap a 10-play, 69-yard drive.
The Tigers took the lead for good after Tadrian Leflore intercepted an Ulmer pass and returned the theft to the Laurel 1. A penalty moved the ball back to the Tornado 34, but that simply delayed the inevitable, as Allen scored on a 10-yard run on the third play of the drive.
Hattiesburg could have increased its lead in the first half, but the Tigers missed a 29-yard field goal and were stopped on fourth down at the Laurel 10 with five seconds remaining in the half.
However, Jaren Handy recovered a fumble at the Tornado 27 on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Allen got 26 yards on the first play, and Conner scored from a yard out to give Hattiesburg a 21-7 lead.
Laurel got its offense going on the next possession, a 16-play, 74-yard march that consumed 7:31 off the third-quarter clock. Running backs Michael Terrell and Zias Perryman took turns gashing the Tigers, and it was Perryman who got Laurel back in the game with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Terrell led the Tornadoes with 92 yards on 13 carries and Perryman added 81 yards on 16 runs, as Laurel totaled 257 yards on the ground.
“That was our intention all along,” said Laurel coach Todd Breland. “We felt like we could run up the middle on them, so we kept at it and started to have some success in the second half.”
But the Tornadoes had no answer for Conner, who capped a 14-play drive with a 4-yard scoring run with 10:42 to play in the game.
Laurel once again narrowed the margin with a seven-play, 69-yard touchdown drive, Terrell scoring on a 16-yard run to make the score 28-20 with 7:55 to play.
But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, then an offside call pushed the Tornadoes’ kickoff back to their 20-yard line, and Hattiesburg’s Jairus McFarland, took the kickoff down the right sideline for a 78-yard touchdown.
“It was un-ordinary,” said McFarland. “I just saw green in front of me and took what I’ve been taught every day in practice.”
Laurel wasn’t quite finished, however. A 23-yard run by Terrell and a 29-yard run by Perryman gave the Tornadoes a first down at the Hattiesburg 13 with plenty of time remaining.
But the Tigers stopped Terrell for a 3-yard loss, then two incompletions set up a key fourth-down. Hattiesburg gambled on a blitz and it paid off, as senior Chris Turner led a barrage of Tiger defenders that swamped Ulmer for an 8-yard loss.
“We were just trying to force a play there on fourth down,” said Vance. “We hadn’t blitzed much all game, so we were just trying to make something happen, and the guys came up big.”
Conner ran eight of the next 10 plays, scoring the final touchdown on a 19-yard run with 1:15 to play, after the teams returned to the field following a 15-minute delay to make sure the stadium was secure.
“With a stoked crowd like we had tonight, it didn’t take much,” said Vance. “That’s unfortunate. But I’m proud of my kids for their poise. It’s great to win the Little Brown Jug again and keep it for another year.”
Hattiesburg will travel to Moss Point next week for the first of four consecutive road games, while Laurel returns to Watkins Stadium to host Oak Grove.
GAME SUMMARY
Saturday at Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg 41, Laurel 20
Laurel 7 0 6 7 – 20
Hattiesburg 7 7 7 20 – 41
First Quarter
L – Sinclair Ulmer 22 run (Kiron Benjamin kick), 2:58 (9 plays/89 yards/5:11 possession).
H – Jarod Conner 16 run (Kendyl Terrell kick), 0:27 (10/69/2:31).
Second Quarter
H – Drexlan Allen 10 run (Terrell kick), 9:55 (3/34/0:54).
Third Quarter
H – Conner 1 run (Terrell kick) 11:17 (2/27/0:19).
L – Zias Perryman 1 run (Kick failed), 3:46 (16/74/7:31).
Fourth Quarter
H – Conner 4 run (Terrell kick), 10:42 (14/88/5:04).
L – Michael Terrell 16 run (Benjamin Kick), 7:55 (7/69/2:47).
H – Jairus McFarland 78 kickoff return (Kick failed), 7:42.
H – Conner 19 run (Terrell kick), 1:15 (10/76/4:43).
TEAM STATISTICS
L H
First downs 17 25
Total yards 323 423
Rushes-yards 48-257 44-327
Passing yards 66 96
Comp-Att-Int 4-12-1 10-19-0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 8-50 6-45
Punts-total (avg.) 1-33 (33.0) 0-0
3rd down conv. 6-12 8-11
4th down conv. 1-2 0-2
Time of possession 26:03 21:57
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Laurel – Michael Terrell 13-92, Zias Perryman 16-81, Sinclair Ulmer 10-46, Amir Smith 8-40, Team 1-(-2); Hattiesburg – Jarod Conner 32-246, Drexlan Allen 11-75, Jamal Donaldson 1-6.
Passing
Laurel – Sinclair Ulmer 4-12-1-66; Hattiesburg – Jarod Conner 10-19-0-96.
Receiving
Laurel – Jontarius Henderson 2-58, Melyjah Windham 1-13, Bryce’ton Page 1-(-5); Hattiesburg – Darius Ruffin 3-38, Drexlan Allen 4-29, Hakeem Vance 1-21, Jairus McFarland 2-8.
