Patrick’s Picks: Can East Central overcome the injury bug at Jeff Davis?

The East Central football team had the ball bounce its way for much of the 2017 season until star running back Tony Brown left the Class 4A state title game in the second quarter with an injured shoulder.

The Hornets are already 2-0 this season with a pair of shutouts against Class 6A opponents, but the injuries are beginning to pile up:

▪ Six-foot-3 junior Matt Stringfellow was supposed to replace Brad Cumbest, who is now at Mississippi State, as the team’s main receiving threat, but he suffered a torn ACL in July.

▪ Junior running back Dylan Grinsteinner is leading the team in rushing with 41 carries for 271 yards and four touchdowns, but he is playing with a cast on his broken left hand.

▪ Senior running back Cameron Gray finished with 20 carries for 98 yards in the season opener against Biloxi, but he didn’t show the same explosiveness that he had a year ago. It turns out he was playing with a broken tibia in his leg and will be out 5-6 weeks.

▪ Senior wingback Ryan Evans missed last week’s 37-0 win over Long Beach due to the recurrence of an ailment that forced him to miss significant action early during the 2017 season.

▪ Junior fullback Pierce Tullos was recently involved in a dirt bike wreck, keeping him off the field.

With so many injuries in the offensive backfield, that means Grinsteinner and junior Teshun McGee will be carrying the load in the ground game. McGee is a transfer from Gautier who ran eight times for 53 yards and two touchdowns last week.

“It’ll be up to those guys to make the most of it,” East Central coach Seth Smith said. “Hopefully, they’ll get some experience and get better with each game.”

On Friday, the Hornets will make their toughest road trip of the season to Jefferson Davis County, which is 2-1 after falling 42-38 to Wayne County last week.

With a dominant defense led by senior linebacker Avery White, East Central may not need many points from a banged up offense.

My prediction: East Central 20, Jefferson Davis County 14.

D’Iberville game canceled: One game was taken off of Friday night’s schedule when the D’Iberville-West Florida game was canceled on Wednesday.

With both schools missing class on Tuesday and Wednesday, D’Iberville coach Eric Collins said that the two schools mutually agreed to cancel the contest.

The Warriors are 2-1 and will have the next two Fridays off with a bye week scheduled for Sept. 14.

Here’s how I see the rest of Friday night’s games playing out:

Gulfport 31, Picayune 27: The Admirals will make the trek to Picayune Friday night after losing 37-7 to the Maroon Tide at Milner Stadium a year ago. Gulfport was pretty banged up for that game last year. I expect T.Q. Newsome and company to put up enough points to come out on top.

St. Martin 28, St. Stanislaus 14: The St. Stanislaus offense has faced a couple of tough opponents to begin the season and scored just 14 points. The Rockachaws (0-2) will have another tough out against St. Martin (2-1).

Gautier 27, Pascagoula 17: The Gautier-Pascagoula rivalry has been a lopsided affair in recent seasons. On Friday, Gautier has a good shot at earning its first win over the Panthers since 2009. The Gators are off to their first 3-0 start since 1999 and Pascagola stands at 0-3.

Ocean Springs 14, George County 10: Ocean Springs (1-2) should have just enough offense to hold off McKinnley Jackson and the Rebels (1-2).

Pass Christian 27, West Harrison 24: The Pirates (1-2) have fallen off the last two weeks after winning 34-31 at Long Beach in the season opener. West Harrison (1-2) has shown some life on defense early in the season, but the Pirates are due a rebound.

Long Beach 31, Vancleave 27: Vancleave (2-1) suffered its first setback 17-10 at Greene County last week while Long Beach (1-1) showed that it’s capable of putting up big numbers on offense with a 53-21 victory over Bay High. Long Beach junior quarterback Cade Crosby has already thrown for 537 yards and seven touchdowns in two games.

Poplarville 35, Stone High 24: A tough non-region schedule gets even more difficult Friday night for Stone High (0-2) with a trip to Poplarville (2-1). The Hornets had to fight for their 41-25 win at Seminary last week, but the Hornets still have plenty of weapons on offense.

Lawrence County 28, Bay High 10: Bay High (0-3) has made some progress this season, but it likely won’t be enough to win on the road at Lawrence County (2-1).

Spanish Fort 27, Moss Point 14: Moss Point (1-2) has to have one of the toughest non-region schedules in the state and the brutal run continues next week when it goes to Wayne County. The Tigers should be a handful in Region 8-4A.

Pope John Paul II 20, St. Patrick 17: St. Patrick is off to the first 2-0 start in program history, but this should be their toughest road trip so far. Pope John Paul II is also off to a 2-0 start.

Resurrection 27, Forrest County AHS 20: The Eagles fell 17-7 at Forrest County AHS last season, but they should be able to handle an FCAHS team that stands at 0-3 headed into Friday night’s game at Gautier.

SUN HERALD TOP 5

1. East Central (2-0)

2. Gulfport (2-1)

3. D’Iberville (2-1)

4. Gautier (3-0)

5. Picayune (2-1)

This story was originally published September 5, 2018 at 12:56 PM.