Five-star QB’s statement No. 1 among top 5 Coast high school football stories from Week 9
Week 9 provided fireworks and standings-altering outcomes on the Mississippi Coast.
Stars put up video game numbers while setting up big games ahead in the final stretch of the regular season. The playoff race is heating up with just one week remaining for 1A-4A and two weeks left in 5A-7A.
Full results and standings can be found at SunHerald.com.
Here were the five biggest stories from the week.
Knight superb
George County (6-3, 3-0) coach James Ray called it the best performance of Deuce Knight’s career. All the Auburn commit did was throw for over 500 yards and rush for another 113 while accounting for nine touchdowns in a 68-49 win over West Harrison (4-4, 0-3).
“The last three weeks is the best I’ve ever seen Deuce Knight play,” Ray told the Sun Herald after the Rebels scored their most points in program history.
Knight has thrown for over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns in three games since returning from injury. Brenn Moody has been the primary benefactor with 454 receiving yards during the Rebels’ current three-game win streak.
George County’s final two games will be the biggest of the year with Picayune and Pascagoula looming ahead.
Dubious history
Patti Page’s “I went to your wedding” was the top jukebox song in America the last time Moss Point finished a season with a zero in the win column. A 54-19 loss to Greene County finished an 0-9 season for the Tigers, the first winless campaign for the program since 1952.
Moss Point is 2-16 over the last two seasons under two different head coaches. It will miss the postseason for the second straight year after making the playoffs the previous 11 seasons.
It’s the first time since 1981-82 the Tigers have missed the playoffs in two consecutive years.
Warriors back in the mix
D’Iberville (4-4, 1-2) is now in good position for a return to the playoff after a dominating 31-0 win over Harrison Central (2-6, 1-2).
Jordan Walley threw three touchdown passes and picked off a pass on defense to lead the charge against the Red Rebels. D’Iberville now needs one win and one Harrison Central loss over the next two weeks to end a two-season playoff drought.
The Warriors have St. Martin (3-5, 0-3) next and end the year with rival Biloxi (3-5, 1-2).
Capers returns with a bang
Vancleave running back Kyle Capers went down during last week’s win over Stone and did not return that night. The junior was in the lineup against Laurel and produced his first career 200-yard game with 230 rushing yards and two scores.
The Bulldogs out-paced the Golden Tornadoes 41-33 for a critical Region 4-5A win. Capers and Hunter Harper’s four-touchdown night helped keep Vancleave in the driver’s seat for a homefield playoff game, which would be a decade-first for the program.
Halloween championship in Popvegas
Region 8-4A has been destined to reach this moment for some time. The South side of the state’s most dominant 4A forces will clash in Poplarville with the district championship game on the line.
The Thursday night battle between the Hornets (8-1, 3-0) and Greene County (7-1, 3-0) pits a Poplarville defense allowing 18.8 points a game against a Wildcat offense scoring 45.1 points per contest led by the MHSAA’s leading passer in Coby King.
Greene County is in search of its first district title since 2019 while Poplarville is aiming to three-peat.
