Wildcats roll past Moss Point to set up matchup with Poplarville with region title on the line
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Photo by RUSSELL TURNER / Herald Staff
Greene County junior Javon Watts (5) is shown breaking past a Moss Point defender en route to a 57-yard touchdown run on the first play of the Wildcats’ 54-19 win over the Tigers last Friday.
By RUSSELL TURNER
Herald Editor
The Greene County Wildcats defeated Moss Point 54-19 last Friday to earn the right to play hosts when the first round of the MHSAA playoffs gets underway next week.
It was a big win for Head Coach Mike King and his team. Not only did it lock down one of the top two seeds for Region 8-4A, it sets up a highly-anticipated matchup with Poplarville this week for region’s regular season championship.
The Tigers came into the matchup winless on the season, but with the confidence of having played spoiler for Greene County with upset wins over the Wildcats in each of the past two seasons. For much of the first half they looked the part again, making the large home crowd antsy on senior night.
“They weren’t going to give it to us,” Coach King said. “We had to play to win.”
“We had some mistakes early on that put us in a hole, but we were able to make some adjustments and get on track. It was a good win, but we also saw some things we need to work on and get cleaned up.”
The Wildcats started out with a bang as senior quarterback Coby King connected with Javon Watts for a 57-yard TD pass on the first play from scrimmage. King hit the junior receiver in stride and Watts followed good downfield blocking by classmate Jase Mathews to paydirt. The PAT failed, but GCHS led 6-0 with just 16 seconds off the clock.
The excitement was short lived for the Wildcat faithful as Moss Point answered with a 28-yard TD halfway through the quarter. A breakdown on the ensuing onside kick gave the Tigers the ball right back and the visitors took advantage, connecting for a 34-yard TD strike moments later to take a 12-6 lead.
The Wildcats answered quickly and tied the game on a 2-yard touchdown plunge by junior Lakeus Franks. After an interception by senior Cordarius Molten, GCHS took the lead for good, getting a 16-yard TD pass from King to junior Gage Stinson. Junior Maison Tribble hit the PAT and with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter GCHS led 19-12.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER / Herald Staff
GCHS junior receiver Jase Mathews is shown hauling in one of his two touchdown passes against the Tigers.
Moss Point put together a nice drive on its next possession, but a big sack by senior Landon Green on fourth down forced a turnover on downs by the Tigers at the GCHS 20-yard-line. Four plays later, King called his own number and turned a quarterback keeper into a 54-yard TD scamper. With the PAT by Tribble, GCHS had extended its lead to 26-12 with 5:25 left in the second quarter.
A few big plays in the passing game and Moss Point was right back in it. A short TD run capped the drive with 4:18 left in the half and closed the gap to 26-19. But, that was as close as they would get.
King and Mathews connected on a 19-yard TD with 1:40 left in the half and Tribble’s PAT put the Cats up 33-19 going into the locker room. Late in the third quarter King found Mathews for a 20-yard touchdown. Watts added a 75-yard TD on a shovel pass 90 seconds into the final quarter and senior Ka’Den Blackston scored on a 6-yard pass from King to round out the scoring with 5:39 left to play. Tribble made each of the extra-point tries to give GCHS the 35-point margin.
King led GCHS with 373 all-purpose yards and seven total touchdowns. He was ultra-efficient in the passing game, connecting with five different receivers on 15-of-17 passes for 301 yards and six TDs. He added 72 yards and another score in the run game. King eclipsed the 100-touchdown mark for his career with the long TD run in the first half and finished the game with 103 scores to his credit (72 passing and 31 rushing). Heading into Friday’s matchup, he’s 150 yards away from 3,000 total yards on the season.
Watts had a huge game as well, finishing with 169 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. Franks posted yet another 100-plus yard game with 77-yards and a TD on eight carries and 33 yards via three receptions. Mathews finished with 70 yards and two touchdowns on four catches and also had 17 yards rushing.
Cordarius Molten led the defensive effort with seven tackles and the interception. Landon Green followed with six tackles, including a sack, while freshman Tyrian McLeod had six stops and an interception. Noah McLeod finished with five tackles, while Danon McLeod, Tylan Blackston, Javon Watts and Cam Kelly each added three tackles.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER / Herald Staff
Wildcat defensive linemen Daijon Franks (51) and Cam Kelly (54) are shown chasing down the Moss Point quarterback in the big win by GCHS last week.
Hornets up next in huge region battle
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 7-1 and now turn their full attention to the Hornets from Poplarville. It’s a game that many onlookers have had circled on the schedule for months as the two teams started their rise to the top of the region rankings.
The Hornets are 8-1 and 3-0, respectively. They’ve won a host of close games, beginning with a season-opening win over Jefferson Davis County (17-16). They followed that with wins over Stone County (13-7), Newton County (34-31) and Pearl River Central (41-28), before dropping their only decision of the year to West Jones (7-10) the last week of September. They bounced back with wins over Moss Point (28-14), Pass Christian (21-19), Tylertown (43-37) and Bay High (49-7) this past Friday.
It promises to be an interesting matchup, pitting the Hornets methodical running game against the Wildcats high powered offense.
“Poplarville is so sound in what they do offensively,” Coach King said. “They will try to control the time of possession with long, sustained drives. They don’t tend to hurt themselves, so we will have to play very well to come out with the win.”
“This is a big game for both teams and we are excited about the opportunity.”
The game is set for Friday in Poplarville with kickoff set for 7 p.m. The address to the school is 1 Hornet Dr, Poplarville, MS 39470.
The entrance gates at Poplarville are cashless, so fans planning to make the trip need to purchase tickets online via GoFan (www.gofan.co/app/school/MS20007) or at the ticket gate using a debit/credit card.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER / Herald Editor
GCHS junior Javon Watts is shown making a nice open-field tackled against Moss Point.
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