HURLEY, Mississippi -- Friday night’s key Region 4-5A contest between East Central and visiting Gautier shaped up pretty much as expected, with the Hornets relying on their multi-pronged running attack, while the Gators rode the right arm of quarterback Kaden Irving.
Both offensive approaches held up their end statistically, with the Hornets rushing for 361 yards and four touchdowns, while Irving passed for 269 yards and three scores. But a deeper look tells the story: Gautier runners averaged 7.7 yards per carry, while Irving was uncharacteristically inaccurate, completing only 41.7% of his passes, well under his season completion percentage of 66.2%.
The Hornets, somewhat surprisingly, were also the more explosive team, with five plays in excess of 25 yards, including touchdown runs of 70 and 38 yards. Gautier only had two such plays, with its longest gain 33 yards.
The end result was a 27-21 win for the Hornets which leaves them in a tie for second place in Region 4-5A with George County, trailing only Picayune, which remained unbeaten in the region with its win over the Rebels Friday night. East Central will travel to Lucedale for a crucial region battle next Friday.
Early on, it appeared Irving might put on a repeat of the previous week, when he accounted for 448 yards and six touchdowns in a win over Vancleave. His first pass went for 18 yards to Aaron Phillips, his second for 29 yards to Derrell Ray and, after a sack and two incompletions, he threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Phillips. It was 7-0 Gators just 1:34 into the game.
Both teams would squander prime scoring opportunities over the course of the game. The first came on East Central’s first possession, when the Hornets -- after a 53-yard run by Eli Smith -- had a first and goal at the Gautier 10-yard line.
But runs of 0, 3, and 2 yards, followed by an incomplete pass on fourth down, left the Gators with nothing to show for the effort.
The Hornet defense, however, would force the Gators into a punt from their own 15-yard line, taking over at their own 41 following the kick. Four plays later, Smith took a pitch around the right side and ran virtually untouched for a 38-yard touchdown to tie the game with 3:49 left in the first quarter.
As the second quarter opened, Gautier again drove into Hornet territory, powered largely by a 19-yard pass from Irving to Aydan Morgan and a 13-yard run by Phillips.
But with a first down at the Hornet 25, the Gators next four plays resulted in an incomplete pass, a run for -2, a gain of five on a pass to Ray and an incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth down.
East Central took over on downs at its own 22 with 7:59 until halftime. After picking up eight yards on first and second down, Deuce Hugger lined up at quarterback (the Hornets use multiple players at QB in their option offense), took and snap and ran an option to his left, keeping the ball and, finding no one home on the defense, raced 70 yards for a touchdown. The PAT put East Central in front, 14-7.
It didn’t take Gautier long to respond. Taking over at its own 34, the moved the 66 yards necessary six plays, with most of the damage coming on a 21-yard Irving to Phillips completion, a 21-yard run by Irving, and a defensive holding call against East Central.
Irving would cap the drive with an 11-yard TD strike to Morgan to knot the game at 14-14. There was 4:42 on the clock until halftime.
Thirty-three seconds later, East Central had the lead again. Starting at their own 39 after the kickoff, the Hornets got a 30-yard run from Brady Fant and a 15-yard facemask penalty against the Gators, which quickly moved the ball to the Gautier 16. On the next play, Hugger ran a misdirection play to his left and scored from 16 yards out. The Hornets led 21-14.
There were still more than four minutes left until half -- an eternity for these two teams. A 26-yard kickoff return by Shamarie Carroll put the ball at the Gator 49. Five plays later, Irving tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Morgan to tie the game at 21-21.
There was still 1:35 until half, but this time the score remained unchanged until the break.
East Central opened the second half with a drive that was both impressive and unimpressive at the same time. The Hornets drove 62 yards in 12 plays, even mixing in their only two completed passes of the game (out of four attempts), to arrive at the Gautier 8-yard line.
On a fourth-and-five at the 8, however, the Hornets fumbled a snap. It was unclear who recovered, but it mattered little. The ball would go over on downs to the Gators, regardless.
The game remained knotted at 21-21 through the third quarter, but -- thanks to a 26-yard run by Smith -- the Hornets were threatening as the final period began and, 45 seconds into the quarter, they scored on a 1-yard run by Smith. The point after kick was blocked, but East Central led 27-21 with 11:15 still remaining.
With that much time remaining, surely the Gators high-powered passing attack would score again. Only they didn’t. Not that they didn’t have ample opportunity.
Although Irving would be intercepted on the Gators’ next drive, moments later Gautier got the ball right back when a bad pitch by the East Central offense led to a fumble recovered by the Gators.
Gautier took over at the Hornet 23. The drive ended at the Hornet 26. IN between, there were five plays -- gain of 10, loss of 3, and three incomplete passes -- coupled with two illegal procedure penalties.
So the Hornets, who moments earlier had turned the ball over at their own 23, now had it back three yards further up the field. An interception would end that possession, but the Gators had been turned away.
With about five minutes left in the game, Gautier would get its final chance. Taking over at their own 36 after a Hornet punt, Irving completed passes of 11 and 33 yards to Ray, followed by a defensive holding call against the Hornets, to put the Gators in a golden position to tie the game, first and goal at the East Central 10-yard line.
What happened next is almost inexplicable. Although the Gators only had 11 rushing attempts for 45 yards (and only four attempts in the second half), Irving was the leading rusher with seven carries for 43 yards. He seemed able to pick up chunks of yardage at will.
But with only 10 yards separating Gautier from at least a tie and a probable win, the Gators almost inexplicably opted for four straight passes -- all into the end zone. All fell incomplete, effectively ending the game. Three Smith runs netted a first down for the Hornets and they were able to run out the clock from there.
Hugger led the Hornet rushing attack with 23 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Smith also surpassed the century mark with 141 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries (a 12.8 average).
Irving finished with 20 completions in 48 attempts for 248 yards and three touchdowns. He did well in spreading the ball around: Phillips had six catches for 94 yards and 1 score; Ray had seven catches for 97 yards; and Morgan had seven catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
The Hornets outgained the Gators in total offense, 384-314.
While East Central improved to 6-2 overall and will square off with George County next Friday for the second spot in the region and a possible home playoff berth, the Gators, who fell to 6-2 and 3-2 in the region, will be battling to stay in the race when they travel to face Pearl River Central.
Other Jackson County scores:
Vancleave 49, Pearl River Central 29
Moss Point 42, Bay High 0
Pascagoula 20, Biloxi 17
Mount Olive 40, Resurrection Catholic 22
Ocean Springs 48, St. Martin 0
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