Poplarville Hornets play the Lumberton Panthers this Friday night, a defending 1A division champion, and old Poplarville rival.

“They are a 1A team but they have a lot of talent, they’ve played bigger schools and bigger classifications and did well against them,” said Head Coach Jay Beech.

This game is considered a rival matchup so the Hornets will have to play effectively in order to win. The Panthers have a lot of athleticism and skilled players on the roster who can create big plays and hurt any team very quickly.

The team’s quarterback has a strong arm and receivers who can catch really well, defensively they are an aggressive 3-3 stack defense.

“They blitz a lot,” said Beech.

The Hornets plan to play smart and be fundamentally sound on offense to prevent being beat by the blitzing defense.

This week, Beech wants to see improvement in his team on the film.

“We don’t want to take a step back we want to continue to get better at what we do,” said Beech.

Beech looks to see his offensive line improve as they bounce back from various injuries and COVID recovery. He hopes to have a good game out of his offensive line this Friday night.

Poplarville is now 1-1 on the season, the same record as the 1-1 Panthers. Kickoff will be Friday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.