‘We’re tired of just getting here.’ Corinth topples Poplarville for 4A title.
Poplarville’s improbable run to the state title game came to a disappointing end against a loaded Corinth squad at M.M. Roberts Stadium on Saturday.
Corinth (14-1) finished a dominant run through the postseason with a 55-21 victory over the Hornets in the Class 4A state championship to earn the school’s first football state title.
“It means the world to this community and this high school,” Corinth head coach Todd Lowery said. “These boys are deserving. This staff, I can’t say enough about this staff. They put so much time and effort into this program. I’m proud of all of them.”
While the Hornets have plenty to be proud of after reaching the state title round in three of the last four seasons, the disappointment was obvious for head coach Jay Beech.
“You just want to win one,” he said. “We’re tired of just getting here. We want to win one. It just didn’t work out for us today.”
Regardless of what took place on Saturday, Beech has built the most consistently successful program in South Mississippi. The Hornets (9-6) are 64-18 with three Class 4A South State titles since Beech took over as head coach in 2014.
Still, it was hard for Beech or his players to draw satisfaction from the way the season finished.
“For the seniors, we’ve been here three times and been in four South State championships,” Poplarville senior running back Chase Shears said. “For it to slip this time, what goes through your head is, what we could have done to stop it. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. Maybe we weren’t supposed to win.
“I love them all. I’m not mad at none of them. We’re a team. We play as a team. We play for the man upstairs.”
No player best exemplified the 2019 Poplarville football team than Shears, who battled through several injuries this year to help spark his team to the state-title game.
After Saturday’s game, he stood in the locker room with his left shoulder tightly wrapped.
“I battled through ankle injuries and then my shoulder injury,” Shears said. “It was frustrating because I always wanted to get on the field. Every time I got out, they always targeted my ankles. It’s just mind over matter. My shoulder is killing me right now, but I played through it because I wanted it. We all wanted it. It’s the last time time putting on the shoulder pads. I want to shout out the offensive linemen. They did their thing.”
Shears managed to close out his senior campaign with one of his best games of the season, running 12 times for 154 yards and a touchdown.
“I think he did his best fighting through injuries,” Beech said. “He’s an explosive player and I hope he gets a chance on the next level.”
Shears appears headed the junior college route after picking up multiple offers from local community colleges.
While Poplarville is no stranger to the state title game, these Hornets were counted out by most when they started the season with a 1-4 record and then fell to 25-7 to Greene County in region play.
The Warriors’ only loss came to Tupelo — a Class 6A playoff team.
Corinth senior quarterback D.T. Sheffield got the Warriors going with a 49-yard touchdown run at the 8:16 mark of the first quarter. He capped off the first half scoring with a 30-yard TD scamper with 8 seconds left.
Corinth, which outscored the competition by 30 points a game this season, led 34-7 at the half.
Corinth only outgained Poplarville 229-172 in the first half, but the Warriors finished off each of their five drives with touchdowns.
The only bright spot in the first half for Poplarville was a 66-yard touchdown run by Shears that tied the game at 7-7 at the 8:05 mark of the first quarter.
Zac Owen and Caziah Daniels provided rushing scores for Poplarville in the second half, but the game was put to rest on the first score of the second half when Sheffield hit D’Kyndric Gaines on a 43-yard TD toss with 9:59 left in the third quarter.
Sheffield was the most dynamic athlete on the field. As a passer, he completed five of six for 164 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, he ran 10 times for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
“He’s an exceptional athlete who has grown so much maturity-wise,” Lowery said. “He’s grown physically. Mentally, he’s sharp and focused. Being able to throw the ball and read defenses, that’s what has made our offense so dynamic.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 2:49 PM.
