A 500-yard game, streak-buster and team on a roll highlight prep football’s Week 3
The third week of the season has come and gone, if you can believe it.
We’re nearing district play and the picture on a number of teams is beginning to become clearer. The third week gave us a come-from-behind win by Ocean Springs over Pascagoula, a 50-burger from Pearl River Central and grinding wins from Picayune and St. Martin.
But our biggest stories of the week come centered on milestones. Poplarville’s four-star running back made national headlines with his performance against Hancock. Moss Point finally found itself on the right side of the scoreboard. And West Harrison is becoming a bigger threat to break the playoff barrier.
Here’s our breakdown of all three moments from Friday.
Shootout hosts historical performance
Poplarville needed every one of the eye-popping 506 rushing yards Ty Keys amassed against Hancock. The Hornets won the points race, 60-54, to improve to 2-1.
Locked in a duel with Hancock quarterback Kason Koenenn, Keys needed only 18 carries to cover over five football fields of yards. He found the end zone a state-record tying eight times, including a 96-yard scoring run in the second quarter.
The Hornets also got a fumble return touchdown from Sam LeJeune in the first half. Poplarville had a 46-19 lead at one point and looked like it would run away with the win. The Hawks made the reigning 4A champs sweat with five second-half touchdowns, but ultimately couldn’t catch the free-running Keys.
Poplarville will have to face another high-powered offense on the road next week at Pearl River Central.
Moss Point snaps losing streak
Put Moss Point and Derrick Jenkins on the board. The first-year head coach picked up his first win and the Tigers snapped an 11-game losing streak when they took down St. Stanislaus 24-14.
Moss Point is on its fourth coach in four years and is coming off its first winless season since 1954. Its first notch in the win column since Oct. 20, 2023 wasn’t pretty, but the Tigers will take them how they come. Moss Point found ways to score in every phase of the game.
Mareo Kelly returned a fumble 24 yards for Moss Point’s first score. Later in the first quarter, Jordan McInnis blocked and returned a punt 25 yards for another touchdown. Keelan Harper threw two touchdown passes in the first half, one to Jermiah Davis and another to Terrance Coleman.
The Tigers failed on all four of their two-point conversion attempts and turned the ball over three times. But seeing one go in is all that matters for Jenkins’ rebuild.
Hurricanes plow through another victim
Another test, another beat down. West Harrison is 3-0 after burying Gautier 47-17 and has won its three games by an average of 24.3 points. Two of the wins have come against the two teams South Mississippi sent to the state title games last December.
Homecoming king Jordan Stapleton found the end zone three times in the first half before sitting out much of the second.
West Harrison’s move back into the Coast’s top classification may have seemed like another road block in the search for its first playoff appearance. But Quincy Patrick’s team has proven to be a physical mismatch for everyone that’s had the misfortune of lining up across from them.
The Hurricanes have one more non-region game against Laurel before they get a chance to make a statement with the district opener at St. Martin.
