No. 6 Poplarville Hornets beat the Sumrall Bobcats with a 42-0 score in a game where all touchdowns occurred in the first half.

“When the game didn’t mean a whole lot and we already solidified our spot in the playoffs, they still came out and played how they were supposed to,” he said.

The Hornets’ first drive of the game ended in a flash. They ran only two plays, with Maurice Travis capping the drive off with a 64-yard touchdown. Took the Hornets exactly 49 second to score.

The Hornets defense got a little taste of the end zone as well. After holding Sumrall to a three and out, Sumrall’s punter muffled the ball and once he picked it up three Hornet players corralled him and the ball popped out, allowing Aden Dedeaux to scoop it up and put the Hornets up 14-0 at the 10:04 mark.

On the following drive, Sumrall dealt with another three and out and another fumbled punt snap. This time, Sumrall’s punter fell on the ball on the 8-yard line.

Seeing only eight-yards in front of them, the Poplarville offense took no time to score. Tyke Smith scored an 8 yard touchdown to push the lead to 21-0.

In the following possession Sumrall threw an interception when Jr. picked it off and ran it for a more than 40 yard touchdown but the play was called back for a blocking in the back penalty on Poplarville.

Instead of another defensive touchdown, Poplarville set up shop on the 50-yard line. Seven plays later they scored off an Avan Jarvis 11 yard run, putting their lead at 28-0 with 6:51 left in the first quarter.

Poplarville’s next score came at the two minute mark. During this drive Poplarville picked up two first downs. They scored in seven plays covering 69 yards. Jarvis scored his second touchdown of the night and the Hornets led 34-0 to end the first quarter.

Sumrall’s drive in the second quarter covered a lot of yardage. They managed to get the ball into the red zone. They tried testing cornerback Lawrence Jamison with a one on one fade pass in the end zone. Jamison won that battle, intercepting the ball and running it all the way to the 27-yard line.

With great field possession, the Hornets offense scored their last touchdown of the night in just four plays. Travis capped off the drive with a goal line run giving him his second touchdown of the night.

Travis finished the night with 5 carries covering 125 yards. Jarvis had 6 carries for 62 yards.

Head Coach Jay Beech was happy with the multiple forced three outs the team earned.

“They played hard every snap, they may have a few moments here and there, a little bend but no break,” he said. “I’m happy with tonight’s game, very happy with how the regular season went. We set out goals to be the district champs, we are district champs, 5-0 in district, right where we wanted to be to set us up for the state playoffs.”

Next Poplaville will host the forst round if the 4A playoff on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. The Item will later report who they will be facing.