Players report for 67th annual Bernard Blackwell Classic

As players reported to the Coast on Wednesday it was clear the numerous possibilities were flying around Eddie Wayne Whitehead's mind.

St. Martin's head football coach is one of the leaders of the South's team this year in the 67th annual Bernard Blackwell Classic.

Whitehead's bunch has enough talent to win its fifth straight game in the series when the two teams collide at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Gulfport High's Milner Stadium.

It's really exciting," said Whitehead, who coached in the state's baseball all-star game a few years. "This is going to be my first time coaching the football team. I'm looking forward to it."

Whitehead is one of eight coaches on the South. He'll be the defensive line coach and defensive coordinator.

"With our defensive line and defensive backs I feel like we have some really good talent there," Whitehead said. "We have some ends who can really come off the edge to get the quarterback and then we have a lot of size in the middle."

Right to work

The teams won't have any time to dilly dally as they'll have just five practices between reporting and Saturday's game at Gulfport's Milner Stadium.

Whitehead said the practices -- they practiced once Wednesday night after check-in and have two-a-days Thursday and Friday -- won't get too detailed.

"The main thing is getting the kids to the right places," Whitehead said. "As far as us defensively, we just want to get the kids lined up and let them play. They've earned the right to be here based on what they did Friday night so we'll just set them up and cut them loose."

Coast representation

Among the Coast's representatives are St. Martin's Tyler Polk and Jimon Dixon, Gautier's LeCharles Pringle, D'Iberville's Ty Peters and Barry Leonardi, Gulfport's Alton Conerly and Deon Cole, George County's Colton Brannan, Harrison Central's Jordon Beaton, Pearl River Central's Sam LeFebvre and Ocean Springs' Bruno Cantu and Vincent Milanese.

The game won't be televised, but it'll be streamed online at FNUTL.com. Russ Robinson will provide the play-by-play, with Jake Wimberly adding color commentary.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Players report for 67th annual Bernard Blackwell Classic ."