Poplarville Hornets sting state power in Hattiesburg, win school’s first state title
The fifth time was the charm for Jay Beech and the Hornets.
A monster game from sophomore phenom Ty Keys and a gutsy fourth quarter play call lifted Poplarville over Louisville 29-28, earning the school’s first-ever state championship in the final round of the 4A football playoff.
“We got over the hump,” Beech said after the game. “The good Lord Jesus Christ gave this to us and provided a way for us. We took advantage of it.”
Keys accounted for 213 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns as the game’s MVP. He broke a 27-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter and evened the score with Louisville with a two-point keeper on the next play.
Beech then stunned Louisville — who had been leading the previous 27 game minutes — with a surprise onside kick. The Hornets recovered, marched downfield and completed their comeback when Nick Miller plunged into the end zone with 5 minutes 23 seconds left on the clock.
“Honestly, I thought we’ve brought better teams to this game,” Beech said about his fifth Hornets team to play for a title. “Nothing against our guys now, but that just shows the heart, the character, the determination they had. We’ve gotten beat on a two-point conversion. We’ve had some heartbreakers. Tonight it went our way.”
Louisville scored inside two minutes left and attempted to retake the lead with a two-point conversion attempt. Kameron Triplett snagged a deflected pass with one hand in the back of the end zone, but his right foot landed on the out-of-bounds line.
Beech, now in his 11th year leading Poplarville, had guided the Hornets to the championship game four times in five years from 2016-20, but lost each time. That included two losses to Louisville, which entered the game as back-to-back defending champion and second in Mississippi history with 12 state titles.
Keys to the game
Keys missed the majority of the regular season with a collarbone injury a year after breaking the 1,000-yard rushing barrier as a freshman.
He returned in the second round of the playoff and recorded his first 100-yard game of the season in the South State championship win over Forest.
So it came as no surprise for Keys to leave his fingerprints all over the last game.
When Louisville extended its lead to 15-7 late in the first half, Keys returned the subsequent kickoff 83 yards to trim the Hornet deficit back to one.
A top-five recruit in the state out of his class, Keys lined up at quarterback often while carving 130 rushing yards through the Wildcat defense on 23 carries
“He’s that little spark,” Beech said of Keys. “He’s that extra spark. He’s that extra explosion that we need. We’ve been blocking our tails off all year, and he gives us that extra burst.”
Keys gained 66 yards himself on five touches during the game-tying drive. He even scored twice after an initial 55-yard apparent house call was called back due to penalty.
Playing in this game against this particular opponent was vengeance for Keys that was a long time coming.
“I grew up watching Poplarville play against Louisville and that right there made me want to do it,” Keys said. “We’d always lose by a couple points, but I wanted to be the first ones to do it, and we did it.”
Keys’ backfield mates are senior veterans who each played a role in Poplarville’s historic win.
Quarterback Sydney Blackmon connected with Zack Case over the middle on fourth-and-goal from the 20-yard line for the team’s first score of the game in the first quarter. Miller, the Hornets’ leading rusher, gained 30 yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown.
Championship moments
Poplarville has proven pesky throughout the season. Nine of the Hornets’ 13 wins came in one-score games. Four of those came in the five-round 4A bracket.
Beech’s club has consistently come through in critical moments, and such was the case against a Louisville team on a 14-game playoff win streak.
The Wildcats were on the verge of adding another score in the final seconds of the first half when Hornet defensive back Cole Henry Jr. intercepted Louisville quarterback Xavier Hunt.
Louisville marched back into the red zone to open the second half, but Jason Smith snagged a batted ball for Poplarville’s second interception.
Then, with the game tied and Poplarville in danger of wasting its extra possession off the onside kick, Blackmon connected with Jeremiah Moss for 50 yards, setting up Miller’s score.
Poplarville’s 13 wins ties the 2017 and 2018 teams for most in school history.
The Hornets won their first title as the only non-No. 1 seed out of 14 teams that played for a state championship.
