Pascagoula blanks rival Moss Point 31-0 in Tigers’ first home game since tornado strike
Lewis Sims doesn’t need it to be perfect.
Pascagoula held Moss Point scoreless in a 31-0 rout to earn the Panthers’ third straight win in the 83rd Battle of the Cats rivalry.
It was a contest marred by turnovers and plagued by a litany of penalties, but it was Pascagoula that found its footing first.
“Our guys are very resilient,” Sims — the Panther head coach entering his 13th season at Pascagoula — said following the game.
Pascagoula fumbled twice and missed a field goal in just the first half, but it was a 10th grader making his first career varsity start that spurred the visiting Panthers.
The first touchdown of the game was a 76-yard strike to sophomore Darius Carter out of the hands of quarterback Silas Corder. Carter outran the Tiger secondary for the only touchdown of the opening 24 minutes.
“(Carter) did amazing,” Corder said. “He’s a fast guy, he’s got a great release and great hands.”
Carter also made the key block that freed running back Cam Deflanders during a back-breaking 62-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
“What a breakout,” Sims said. “He was next man up. It was because of injuries he got the start today and he made the most of it.”
A preseason injury to Pascagoula’s premier defender Jeffery Rush didn’t slow down the Panther’s defense, either.
Pascagoula picked off three passes, recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and forced three turnovers on downs.
It was the first time Pascagoula shut out Moss Point since 2015 and the largest margin of victory the series has seen since 2001.
“Our guys, once they understood Jeffery (Rush) wasn’t going to play, somebody was going to have to step up,” Sims said. “Take that role and fill that void, it’s a next man up mentality. I’m just really proud of those young men up front.
“Wyatt Henderson, he got after it. Jaydon Howard got after it and really filled that void. Sebastian Ford, his first year playing high school football, did really well. Then you had Isaiah Marshall, the old guy of the bunch, had a birthday this week. He showed out for his birthday. He deserves another cake.”
Extra meaning
In a rivalry that Sims calls the best on the Coast, this meeting carried a little extra meaning for the fans and players involved. Moss Point hosted the game in a stadium that has been freshly renovated following a tornado strike that took out the press box and damaged the field earlier in the summer.
A brand new press box adorns Jerry Alexander Stadium and the lights surrounding Dantzler Field are brand new.
“This is such a special event because it brings two communities together,” Sims said. “We support each other, we come out and help each other out. When the tornado came, people reached over from both sides just to help each other out. The great thing about it is nobody cares, but this one night a year it’s a rivalry, the best rivalry on the Coast if you ask me.”
The storm ripped through Moss Point in June, causing damage across town and leaving many with destroyed homes.
First year Moss Point coach John Feaster said he told his team the morning the storm hit that adversity would come. He didn’t expect the first example to arrive so completely, but hopes his team uses the event to “be a sense of light” for the community.
For players across the sidelines, opening the season with the Coast’s most intimate rivalry on the spot the tornado began its track carried significant meaning.
“That was an awful tragedy and we all, as a community, joined together,” Corder said.
