Friday night football lineup: Vancleave hosts Quitman in first-ever third-round playoff game VANCLEAVE, Mississippi --- Vancleave continues its journey into unprecedented football territory on Friday night, hosting Quitman at 7 p.m. in a third-round 4A playoff game. The Bulldogs (7-5) have won four straight games and five of six, including playoff victories over McComb (15-7) two weeks ago and at Magee (19-14) last week. Vancleave is in the third round of the playoffs for the first time in school history, a startling turnaround for a team that was 2-4 at one point this season. Were just playing good football right now, Vancleave coach Jim Bloomfield said. We had some injuries early in the year, but weve started to get those guys back and everything seems to be jelling. ... Still, its probably going to take our best game of the season to win this week. Quitman comes in at 8-4, riding an eight-game winning streak after going 0-4 in a rugged non-region schedule featuring Laurel, Meridian, Wayne County and Taylorsville. Steven Bynums Panthers, who reached the 4A South State finals in both 2011 and 2012, beat Florence 30-6 in round 1 and then edged Purvis 14-13 last week. Quitman, the champion of Region 5-4A, is a ground-based team. The Panthers have a pair of fleet-footed quarterbacks in senior Toriano Howard (5-foot-7, 155 pounds) and junior DeQuan Stanley (6-0, 190), plus the small-but-quick Josh Davis (5-6, 175) at tailback. Quitman is a really strong, physical team, both offensively and defensively, Bloomfield said. Theyre going to run right at us, and try to make us stop them. We feel like we have a good game plan against them, but its going to be all about holding onto the football. Vancleave has ramped up its running game in recent weeks, going back to its familiar veer option attack after toying with a spread offense early in the year. The Bulldogs are averaging 324 yards rushing during their recent 5-1 run, and have totaled 692 yards on the ground in their two playoff games. Senior quarterback Terren Crowley continues to be the top play-maker for the Bulldogs, with 1,374 yards and 20 touchdowns rushing --- including two scores and a season-best 201 yards against Magee last week. But hes gotten a lift from a pair of juniors: tailback Walter Williams (1,009 yards, including 374 in the last three weeks) and fullback Marlon Warren (471 yards, 7 TDs). Weve improved as the season has gone along, Crowley said. With the option offense, its all about different guys making plays and the defense not knowing whos getting the ball. The way Walter and Marlon have been running has definitely kept teams from keying on me, and its opened things up for everybody. The Vancleave defense has also done its part, allowing a total of 21 points in the playoffs. Linebackers Michael Whittle and Trey Barton lead the way, combining for 225 tackles this season. Its also taken heads-up plays to keep the Bulldogs winning. Guard Jacob Ely fell on a Crowley fumble in the end zone for what proved to be the decisive touchdown against Magee last week, while back-up punter Taylor Crabtree corralled a bad snap and managed an adequate kick with the Bulldogs clinging to a five-point lead in the final minutes. That was a huge play, Bloomfield said. And Taylor was only in the game because our regular punter, Parker Bourque, was playing quarterback because Terren was cramping up. (Magee) had stopped us at our own 25 and it was a high snap, but he somehow snagged it, turned sideways and got off about a 40-yard punt. They were able to get one first down, but our defense stopped them after that. Sometimes you need those kinds of plays to win in the playoffs. Fridays game can be heard live on WPMO-AM 1580 or online at talkradio1580. --- State quarterfinal pairings All kickoffs at 7 p.m. Friday 6A South Brandon (11-1) at Meridian (9-3) Oak Grove (11-1) at Petal (10-2) 6A North Starkville (9-3) at South Panola (12-1) Tupelo (11-1) at Madison Central (9-3) --- 5A South Picayune (9-2) at Wayne County (10-2) Laurel (11-1) at Brookhaven (9-3) 5A North Pearl (11-2) at Oxford (12-0) Clarksdale (7-4) at Callaway (13-0) --- 4A South Quitman (8-4) at Vancleave (12-0) Forrest County (10-2) at St. Stanislaus (7-5) North Rosa Fort (11-1) at Cleveland (8-5) Noxubee County (9-3) at Lafayette (8-5) --- 3A South Seminary (10-3) at Wilkinson County (10-3) Tylertown (8-5) at Hazlehurst (12-1) --- North Charleston (11-1) at North Pontotoc (10-3) Louisville (13-0) at East Side (10-3) --- 2A South Mize (9-4) at East Marion (11-2) Bassfield (12-1) at Taylorsville (11-2) 2A North Eupora (9-2) at Baldwyn (10-3) West Bolivar (9-3) at Calhoun City (9-3) --- 1A South Lumberton (7-5) at French Camp (8-5) Stringer (11-1) at Hinds (9-4) 1A North St. Aloysius (8-4) at Hamilton (9-3) Smithville (9-3) at Broad Street (9-2)
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:12:22 +0000
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