By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
This is the second of three stories previewing the 2019 high school football season in the Pine Belt. Today’s story features the area’s three Class 4A schools, Forrest County AHS, Purvis and Sumrall.
The first story highlighted the area’s three largest schools: Hattiesburg, Oak Grove and Petal. The final story will focus on the remaining small schools, Lumberton, North Forrest, Presbyterian Christian and Sacred Heart.
SUMRALL
Shannon White approaches his ninth season as the head coach at Sumrall needing new faces to step up after losing a splendid senior class in 2018 that carried the Bobcats to an 8-4 record and a playoff appearance.
“They were special, from the ninth grade on,” said White. “Not only were they great players, but they were great leaders for our school. We usually have those kinds of kids, and last year we had a bunch of them.”
However, White expects his upcoming class of 14 seniors to step in and fill those holes.
“We have a good senior group coming up, kids who’ve played a lot of football,” said White. “Putting this group with last year’s group was something else.”
The Bobcats will be expecting a lot out of senior Gabe Cocroft (6-0, 185) on both sides of the ball. Last season, Cocroft rushed for 187 yards on 41 carries, caught 16 passes for 224 yards, recorded 26 tackles and had two interceptions from his linebacker position.
Sumrall also returns senior Darryn Coney, who ran for 326 yards on 32 carries – a 10.2-yard average – and four touchdowns. Also back is junior Hayden Barrett, who led the Bobcats with 256 receiving yards on 16 receptions last season.
The question is who will operate the Sumrall offense, and White has tabbed sophomore John Ford for that role. Ford has good size at 6-2, and he got in some action last season as a freshman.
“He’s made a lot of progress, a lot of growth, and we believe he will play well for us,” said White. “We’ve got (sophomore) Cade Dedeaux as his back-up, and he got some talent. We think we have two capable quarterbacks.”
Sumrall’s strength could be its offensive and defensive lines. Senior Justice Hanberry (6-1, 270) will anchor the offensive line, and will also help on defense, where he had 47 tackles, three for loss. The Bobcats also have senior Lawson Graves (6-3, 240) returning on the offensive line.
This year, the defense will carry much of the load for Sumrall, and the Bobcats have a seasoned crew on that side of the ball, led by junior Cole Daniels (6-1, 260), who had 61 tackles and six sacks last season. Daniels is joined on the defensive front by senior Tate Davis (5-7, 182).
The Bobcats have returning starter at linebacker in senior Carson Duck (5-10 180), recording 54 tackles last season.
“There’s no question, our defensive line, and our defense in general, is going to be our strength this season,” White said. “That will be a bit of a chance of pace for us, as we’ve gotten a reputation for throwing the ball all over the place.”
The secondary will be led by senior returning starter Adarius Fairman (6-0, 160), who had 43 tackles and an interception last season.
“We’ve got some experience, but not many kids who’ve started a varsity football game,” said White. “With that comes some growing pains, but we think we’ve got some good players and we believe we’ll can be competitive in our region.”
FORREST COUNTY AHS
Brad Calcote’s first season as a head coach wasn’t one to remember, after his Forrest County AHS team finished 1-10 last season.
But the Aggies coach is thinking positive and has high expectations for the FCAHS program.
“This is a school with a long winning tradition, that won a state championship not all that long ago,” said Calcote. “We think we can get back to that level, and the kids have bought in to what it takes to get there.”
Forrest County has a young team, but those kids do have a bit of experience, notably senior Devante Dixon (5-7, 197), who led the Aggies with 513 rushing yards on 119 carries and scored three touchdowns last season.
“He’s going to be our guy,” said Calcote. “He’s going to be touching the ball a lot. He had a good spring. Changing him from a Wing-T fullback to an I-formation tailback was a bit of an adjustment, but he’s picked it up nicely.”
Breland also expects to get a lot of mileage out of senior Gabe Glover (6-2, 245), who will play defensive tackle and tight end. Last season, Glover led the Aggies with 68 tackles, 21 for loss, and had a pair of sacks.
“Times are tough right now, but we’re teaching these kids how to do things the right way, and we’re getting better every day,” said Calcote.
PURVIS
There were growing pains galore for Purvis last season, as Brad Hankins took over after longtime Pine Belt coach Perry Wheat retired.
The Tornadoes finished 2018 with a 2-8 record last season, and he has a team that is starting pretty much from scratch again this year.
“We’ve got just one touchdown from last year walking these halls,” said Hankins. “But I’ll tell you what, they’re going to play hard every down, and that’s all we can ask from them. We’ve got a lot of questions we’ve got to get answered.”
Purvis lost two players it was counting on, when tailback Wayne Ray transferred to Oak Forest Academy, and Jesse Johnson chose to concentrate on baseball in his senior year. Those were the Tornadoes’ top two offensive threats, with a combined 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“The strength of our team is going to be our lines,” said Hankins. “We’ve got some kids there who’ve played some, and they’ll be our anchor.”
Purvis returns three seniors on its line in Austin Swartz (6-3, 257), Davin King (6-1, 260) and Dalton Garner (6-0, 245).
Offensively, the Tornadoes will get a lot of mileage out of junior Ty Badon, who had 25 tackles in the secondary last season.
“I like this team,” said Hankins. “You can’t always control how the ball is going to bounce, but you can control your attitude, your effort and how hard you’re going to play, and that’s what I like about them. They’re scrappy.”
