A longtime South MS coach finds success at D’Iberville. ‘This school loves football.’

Larry Dolan would have been perfectly happy finishing what’s left of a splendid career as a high school football coach, letting someone else have the responsibility of being the head guy.

Dolan was in a good situation as the defensive coordinator at Oak Grove in 2018, with a team that would eventually play for the state championship in Class 6A.

But when the head coaching position at D’Iberville High came open, Dolan was intrigued and decided it was worth the risk of jumping back into the game in a serious way.

“I was perfectly happy being (at Oak Grove),” Dolan said. “After that first year there, somebody called me and said D’Iberville’s open, and I thought I really didn’t think I had a chance at that job. But I got together with the superintendent, and everything fell into place.”

In his third season as the coach of the Warriors, Dolan has D’Iberville at 4-0 and ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press statewide poll this week, coming off a brilliant 10-1 campaign in 2020.

The Warriors will take that record and ranking on the road for a neighborhood scrap against Biloxi, as both teams open Region 4-6A play this week.

“I’m excited, because it’s our first (region) game,” said senior safety Caleb Williams. “We know all the guys on the Biloxi team. It’s going to be a fun game, a rivalry game.”

Truthfully, Dolan has nothing really to prove as a coach. He capped a 14-year stint as the head coach at Forrest County AHS in 2013 by taking the underdog Aggies to the Class 4A state title, upsetting Lafayette 21-6.

Along the way, Dolan established what has become something of a modus operandi. He’s taken good players, coached them up, and won consistently, year-in, year-out.

After losing arguably the best player in the state last season when J.J. Walley took his considerable talents to the University of Minnesota, Dolan has another scrappy bunch that plays basic, fundamental football.

“We’ve all been together since ninth grade, so we’re really tight,” said senior quarterback Lance Garlotte. “We just like to get the job done.

“I like this offense. Whatever’s best for the team. It’s working, we’re 4-0, and it’s been working the past two years. No reason to change.”

As a quarterback, Garlotte doesn’t do a lot. He’s only thrown 16 passes in four games, completing nine. But two of those have gone for touchdowns.

Last week, in a big 27-13 victory over Picayune, the Warriors only passed it twice.

“He completed both of them,” Dolan joked. “One for a touchdown and one for an interception. But Lance does what we need him to do, which is direct the offense.”

The heartbeat of the Warriors’ offense is a ground-gobbling running game that has averaged 242 yards a game, led by — but by no means limited to — senior tailback Drey Lenoir.

Lenoir, a rock-solid 5-foot-10, 190-pounder, has rushed 59 times for 417 yards (7.1-yards per carry) and nine touchdowns.

“I feel like I can do a little bit of everything,” said Lenoir. “Right now, running between the tackles is what’s best for the team. We have a lot of guys who can run the football.”

Dolan has always preferred some form of the Wing-T, which requires a good, experienced offensive line and a stable of good backs.

“(Passing) is not what we do best, and it’s not what people have given us,” said Dolan. “We’ve got a passing game in, but we really haven’t had to use it yet. We will have to throw the ball eventually to beat some of the teams on our schedule.

“(Drey’s) a strong kid who I think has been overlooked a little bit here on the Coast. He’s getting his recognition now. But we’ve got six backs that we feel can run the ball, and we’ve got some offensive linemen with some experience.”

Dolan left his alma mater, and the only place he’d ever worked in coaching, after winning the state title at FCAHS in 2013. He coached two seasons at Columbia Academy, then had two difficult years at Pearl River Central, resigning after a 1-10 season in 2017.

He was at loose ends, not sure where or what he would do next. His wife, Kim, is principal at South Forrest Attendance Center, so a move from his home in Forrest County south of Hattiesburg, wasn’t feasible.

“I happened to come across Drew (Causey, Oak Grove head coach) at the coaching clinic and he said they needed a defensive coordinator,” Dolan said. “I said, ‘sure, I’ll talk about it,’ but I didn’t expect anything, but the next week he gave me a call.

“It was great time for me to back away from being a head coach. It was good for me to get back in the books and study defense, because things have changed since I was Perry Wheat’s defensive coordinator (at FCAHS in the early 1990s).”

Dolan wasn’t initially certain he wanted to put in for the D’Iberville job when Eric Collins left after three seasons in 2018. But after looking into the it, he applied and was hired early in 2019.

He quickly changed the culture at D’Iberville, and it showed on the field. The Warriors were 9-3 in 2019, setting the stage for the 2020 season that saw D’Iberville win 10 straight games before a heartbreaking 29-28 loss to Northwest Rankin in the second round of the 6A playoffs.

“I just love Coach Dolan; he’s my favorite coach,” said Williams. “I don’t know what I’m going to do next year, because going to college is going to be a whole different story. He’s a funny man, but we know when he wants to work. We love being around him.”

The Warriors got off to a rocky start in 2021, not playing well, but still easing past Moss Point 12-0.

But given a chance to go on the road against Petal, D’Iberville flexed its muscles in a 48-26 triumph that served notice that the Warriors weren’t going to fade away that easily.

“We started off pretty rough, with the first game against Moss Point,” said Lenoir. “It was a win, but it wasn’t what we wanted it to be. But we’ve been picking it up and playing our game every week, getting better.

“The last three games have been pretty physical, preparing us for (region). We’re trying to prove that we’re the most physical team out there.

D’Iberville was supposed to play at Laurel in the second week of the season, but that game was canceled when Laurel had COVID issues. Petal, likewise, had a game against Brookhaven canceled that week for the same reason.

“We looked all over the place, and even called some people in Arkansas and Florida, trying to get a game,” Dolan said. “Petal and I got together, and it was a good game.

“I wasn’t crazy about playing Petal, but it was a good atmosphere for my kids to be in. I wanted to be in a big stadium like that. We played them in the playoffs last year and beat them here, so they might have had a little revenge on their minds. But it worked out good for us.”

In their home opener Sept. 10, the Warriors smashed Class 3A powerhouse Jefferson Davis County 27-7, then handed the Maroon Tide their first loss of the season last week.

As good as the Warriors have looked so far this season, Dolan knows that the real season starts this week, and he knows his team faces a new series of challenges.

“We’ve improved every week, gotten better at what we do and trying to figure out our team,” Dolan said. “We’ve gone to kind of a ram-it-down-their-throats mentality. So far, so good with that.

“But we’ve still got to get a whole lot better. We’ve seen four teams that run it; now we’re fixing to see some teams that run it and throw it. We’ve definitely got a challenge ahead.”

And there is no doubt that the Indians are fierce rivals.

Although the new campus of D’Iberville High is out on the edge of town off Mississippi Highway 67, Warrior Stadium, home of the Warriors, is at the D’Iberville Middle School, a scant three miles from Biloxi High.

“It’s going to be a fun game,” said Garlotte. “It’s Biloxi. It’s a lot of our friends, people we know, people we’ve played a lot over the years. Can’t wait.”

Biloxi features junior quarterback DeeJay Bailey, who has shown the ability to throw and run this season.

“The quarterback’s got a real strong arm, and they’ve got a couple of solid receivers with a lot of speed,” Dolan said. “And they’ve got a big offensive line. Defensively, they’ve got two defensive linemen who are way above average.”

Region 4-6A looks to be significantly stronger than in years past, with three other undefeated teams in the region (Ocean Springs, Harrison Central and Hancock), and playing Petal gives D’Iberville an early look at what they might expect in the playoffs.

“No doubt, everybody’s got a great quarterback,” Dolan said. “We’re definitely not looking past Biloxi, but Ocean Springs has got to be one of the top teams in the South; they’re playing motivated football.

“But any night, any team can beat any other team. Hancock’s sitting at 3-0, Harrison Central, 3-0. Everybody’s got junior quarterbacks who can play. Whoever wins this region, I don’t think they’ll be undefeated.”

As Lenoir is the first among equals at the running back position, so Williams is with the defense. A versatile 6-foot, 190 pounds, Williams lines up most frequently at safety.

He had a vintage effort last week against Picayune, with 10 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery that he took back the other way 50 yards to set up the go-ahead touchdown for D’Iberville in the second half.

“I had a good game, but it was a team effort,” said Williams. “I was excited about the way we played. I love being physical; I’m a physical player.

“Our defense is all seniors, so we’re all experienced. Everybody’s a playmaker, so we know somebody can get the job done.”

But he’s far from the only star on the Warriors’ defense. Senior linebackers Manny Duplessis and Jaheim Scott lead the team with 35 and 34 tackles, respectively, and D’Iberville has 10 tackles for loss spread among nine players.

D’Iberville has a rich football tradition, with a Class 5A state championship in 2002 and another South State title in 2008 to its credit. The Warriors have won 15 region or division titles and have had 29 winning seasons since 1981.

Dolan likes the fact that expectations are high, with the support that goes with those expectations.

“I would like to think we’re where we can win eight or nine games every year,” said Dolan. “But

I think the most important thing is not that you’re going to win eight, but that you’re expected to win eight.”

Dolan thinks D’Iberville is close to where Forrest County AHS was during his tenure there. In his last nine seasons as head coach, from 2005-13, the Aggies were 89-23.

“That’s where we were at Brooklyn, and I think that’s where we are here,” Dolan said. “If we don’t win, then it will be a disappointment to me, my team, the community, and that’s where you want to be. You don’t want to be some place that they don’t expect you to win.”

Dolan has been in the coaching business since 1990, and at age 55 he’s near the end of his career.

But coming to D’Iberville has agreed with him, and he says he’ll stay as long as the school will have him, which, if the team’s current success continues, may be for quite some time.

“I’m as happy here as I’ve ever been,” Dolan said. “I’ve got a great situation down here. I’ve got some great assistant coaches. This school loves football and loves athletics. This community supports its athletes.

“So, I’ll stick around until we start to lose, or they run me off.”