By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
PETAL – Whatever hex it is that Petal has over Hattiesburg in football is alive and well.
The Panthers bent, but they didn’t break, and they were the ones who made the big plays when it counted in a thrilling 34-27 victory over the Tigers Saturday night at Panther Stadium.
Junior Cory Jackson caught a 37-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds left in the game to power Petal (1-0) to its fourth straight win the Leaf River Rivalry, and all of them have been excruciating for Hattiesburg (0-1).
“I can’t say enough about the fight and what our guys have been through the past week and a half that people don’t know about,” said Petal coach Allen Glenn. “We’ve got a long way to go. It’s just Game 1, and it’s a long road, but what a way to start.”
The Panthers often found themselves playing rope-a-dope with the Tigers, who racked up 421 yards of offense and had a significant edge in time of possession.
But HHS committed three turnovers, all in the second half, and the Tigers were called for 14 penalties for 101 yards, most of them mental errors, such as delay of game and encroachment calls.
By contrast, Petal did not turn the ball over, nor did it allow a sack.
“Too many self-inflicted wounds,” said HHS coach Tony Vance. “You can’t do that against anybody – good team bad team, you can’t do that against anybody – and Petal’s got a good team.
“You can’t keep shooting yourself in the foot, and we did that way too much tonight. We’ve got to fix that.”
Ultimately, it was the kicking game that made the difference for Petal, and it showed up right from the start.
Fifteen seconds was all it took off the game clock for the Panthers to score, when Jackson took the game’s opening kickoff through a gaping hole in the Tiger coverage and dashed 81 yards for a touchdown.
“At first, I was nervous,” said Jackson. “But when I went up and caught the ball, I saw the wide-open hole, and I just hit it full speed.”
It was the start of a big night for Jackson, who caught six passes for 123 yards and two more scores, and he added another big kickoff return of 30 yards to set up a second-quarter scoring drive.
“Cory Jackson grew up a lot tonight,” said Glenn. “The thing is, all of those skill guys were sophomores who played a lot last year. What a way to start for us. You just put the ball in your playmakers’ hands, and that’s what we did.”
If the Tigers were rattled by the early score, it didn’t show. Junior Demarcus Baker returned the favor on the ensuing kickoff, setting Hattiesburg up at the Panther 48-yard-line for its opening drive of the game, a 10-play scoring march to tie the game.
Junior quarterback Deuce Vance picked up 18 yards on a third-and-24, then scrambled for a first down on an 11-yard pickup on fourth down to the Petal 20.
Senior Tavares Wade took over in a wildcat scheme and took a direct snap on three consecutive plays for runs on 7, 5 and 2 yards, then Baker powered it in from 6 yards out.
Once Petal got a chance to run its offense, the Panthers were pretty effective, especially on the ground.
Running behind a big offensive line, Petal drove as far as the Hattiesburg 10 before the drive stalled, leading to sophomore Sam Haydel’s first career field goal, a 27-yard boot to put the Panthers ahead 10-7.
“We work together as a team, but we’ve got some weapons in our backfield,” said junior tackle Will Hampton. “We’ve got a couple of guys who played a lot last year. They know how to read the holes, and if the hole’s not there, they can make one.
“We did a good job play-calling, which allowed us to keep the defense off the quarterback. We’ve been working hard all week on making sure we have a good pocket for him.”
Another big return by Baker, this one of 37 yards, gave the Tigers excellent field position near midfield, but after a false start, Hattiesburg failed on a fourth-and-2.
But after getting the ball back at their own 11 on a punt, the Tigers needed just six plays to regain the lead.
Vance connected with sophomore Tristen Keys for a 38-yard gain, then Wade had runs of 8 and 18 yards to the Panther 20.
A holding call set the Tigers back, but Vance and Keys hooked up again for 26 yards to the Petal 3, and junior Jordan Bratcher covered that distance for the touchdown. However, the kick for the conversion was no good, and that would be a factor.
Petal needed just one big play to take the lead right back.
Senior Carlton Burger’s 29-yard return on the kickoff gave the Panthers the ball in Tiger territory at the 42-yard-line, and after Jackson lost a yard on his only run of the night, junior Kentrell Mickell burst off right tackle and dashed 43 yards for a touchdown.
Hattiesburg responded with another scoring drive, using eighth plays to cover 54 yards. Vance hit Wade for 14 yards to convert a third-and-11, then Vance took a keeper up the middle 35 yards to the Petal 4, with Wade scoring on the next play.
However, Vance was stopped a half-yard short on the two-point conversion attempt, but the Tigers still enjoyed a 19-17 lead.
“It’s not hard,” Vance said. “Correct the mistakes, build on the things we did well tonight, work on the thing we didn’t do so well. I didn’t see anything tonight we can’t fix. That’s what we do as coaches.”
Jackson, however, set the Panthers up at the Tiger 35 with a 30-yard return, and Petal cashed it in with a 32-yard field goal from Haydel with 31 seconds left in the first half for a 20-19 halftime lead.
After struggling in his first career start, sophomore quarterback Eli Causey found his rhythm in the second half. Causey was just 2 of 7 passing for 12 yards in the first half but finished 11 of 20 for 207 yards and two scores.
“Eli is about as even keeled as they come,” said Glenn. “He can throw a 60-yard post for a touchdown, and he’s just as cool as a cucumber.
“He was the starting point guard for us last year as a freshman in 6A basketball, which says a lot about his ability. He’s got a bright future.”
Still, it was Hattiesburg that appeared to have momentum going in its first possession of the second half.
On third-and-15 from the Tiger 22, Vance found Wade open along the left sideline for a 33-yard gain to the Petal 45. Except that Wade had gone out of bounds and come back onto the field to make the catch.
It went into the books as an 11-yard penalty – half the distance to the goal – but it cost Hattiesburg 44 yards of field position, yet another critical mistake by the Tigers.
But worse was to come for HHS.
After getting a three-and-out, the Tigers drove from the shadow of their own goal to a first down at the Petal 36. Vance completed a 21-yard pass to senior Tamoz Barnes, then Bratcher had runs of 11 and 19 yards on the drive.
But on the second-down play, Vance’s pass was badly underthrown, and Panther senior Skylar Husband made the easy interception at the 13-yard-line. Worse for the Tigers, Vance was lying on the turf in pain with full-body cramps. He was carried off the field and did not return.
“He’ll be OK,” Vance said of his quarterback. “He was sick all week, and he’s been taking medicine all week trying to get ready for tonight.
“We were prepared for it and we had a plan for that. We had our other quarterback ready, and Tavares Wade was able to slide over and he did a pretty good job.”
Petal seized the opportunity with both hands, as Causey hit two big pass plays in a four-play, 87-yard drive.
A 36-yard strike down the right sideline to senior Caden Hinton got the Panthers near midfield, and a play later, Jackson took in a pass on the left side, broke a tackle and roared down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown play.
Indeed, Petal seemed to have all the momentum early in the fourth quarter, when another promising Hattiesburg drive inside the Panther 40 was thwarted by a fumble.
But the Tigers held, and after getting the ball back after a touchback, Vance dipped deep into his playbook for a double pass play. Wade, now operating at quarterback, lateralled to Barnes, who found Keys open down the right side for an 80-yard touchdown.
Wade burst up the middle untouched for the conversion and a tie game with 8:10 to play.
“We ran that play here about four years ago,” said Vance. “It worked then; it worked this time too.”
The Tigers had a chance to take the lead after getting a three-and-out on defense, but Wade threw up an ill-advised pass that Husband corralled for his second pick of the night.
Taking over at their own 39, Petal converted a third-and-6 with a 15-yard pass from Causey to Hinton to the Hattiesburg 32. A holding call and an incompletion left the Panthers with a third-and-15 from the Tiger 37.
Causey rolled right behind good protection and found Jackson coming open from the right side and he dragged a pair of defenders into the end zone with him for the winning points.
“We just needed to come out and make a play,” said Jackson. “I knew I was getting the ball. I beat the man to the inside and when I caught it, I knew I had to score.”
Another decent return gave the Tigers the ball at their own 49 with only one time out remaining. Wade scrambled for one first down, but was then sacked, threw incomplete and Keys wasn’t able to get out of bounds on a 9-yard completion as the clock ran out.
Wade finished with 90 yards on 17 carries and Keys had 153 yards on four receptions for Hattiesburg.
“As long as the guys in that room over there believe in themselves, that’s all that matters,” said Glenn. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else says.”
Both teams will hit the road next week. Petal will travel to St. Martin, while Hattiesburg goes to Laurel for the 102nd Battle for the Little Brown Jug, which is currently in the Tigers’ possession.
GAME SUMMARY
Friday at Petal
Petal 34, Hattiesburg 27
HHS 7 12 0 8 – 27
Petal 10 10 7 7 – 34
First Quarter
P – Cory Jackson 81 kickoff return (Sam Haydel kick), 11:45.
H – Demarcus Baker 6 run (Tavares Wade kick), 7:08 (10 plays/48 yards/4:37 possession).
P – Haydel 27 field goal, 3:08 (12/51/4:00).
Second Quarter
H – Jordan Bratcher 3 run (Kick failed), 7:52 (6/89/3:42).
P – Kentrel Mickell 43 run (Haydel kick), 6:55 (2/42/0:57).
H – Wade 4 run (Run failed), 3:34 (8/54/3:21).
P – Haydel 32 field goal, 0:31 (6/21/2:50)
Third Quarter
P – Eli Causey 55 pass to Jackson (Haydel kick), 1:10 (4/87/1:45).
Fourth Quarter
H – Tamoz Barnes 80 pass to Tristen Keys (Wade run), 8:10 (1/80/0:17).
P – Causey 37 pass to Jackson (Haydel kick), 0:58 (9/61/3:29).
TEAM STATISTICS
H P
First downs 16 14
Total net yards 421 341
Rushes-yards 40-208 25-134
Passing yards 213 207
Comp-Att-Int 8-17-2 11-20-0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 14-101 8-60
Punts-total (avg.) 1-27 (28.0) 3-113 (37.7)
Sacks 0-0 2-3
Third down 2-6 3-9
Fourth down 2-3 0-0
Time of possession 26:10 21:50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Hattiesburg – Tavares Wade 17-90, Jordan Bratcher 10-57, Deuce Vance 8-51, Tamoz Barnes 2-12, Team 1-(-5); Petal – Kentrel Mickell 12-59, Corey Toole 6-34, Chavez Walker 4-21, Carlton Burger 2-21, Cory Jackson 1-(-2).
Passing
Hattiesburg – Deuce Vance 6-13-1-124, Tamoz Barnes 1-1-0-80, Tavares Wade 1-3-1-9; Petal – Eli Causey 11-20-0-207.
Receiving
Hattiesburg – Tristen Keys 4-153, Anthony Ponce 2-25, Tamoz Barnes 1-21, Tavares Wade 1-14, Jaboris Jones 1-0; Petal – Cory Jackson 6-123, Corey Hinton 3-59, Britt Stringer 1-13, Carlton Burger 1-12.
