LL-Csports

Picayune 14, Laurel 3 at halftime.

Irving is the real deal. I don’t know if he is as good as Hubbard, but he made some ridiculous plays against West Jones last year.

Don’t sleep on Northeast Jones. They came close to beating Mendenhall last year, they beat Quitman and are sitting quietly at 5-2. Mendenhall should take it rather easily.

What’s unrealistic?

After the jamborees last night, who are the top contenders in 5A? My Top 5: 1. Picayune - We know what they are. They’ll be the favorite until proven otherwise. 2. Laurel - Big and fast. Offensive line is elite. Both quarterbacks can move the offense. 13 is one of the best players with the ball in his hands I’ve seen in a long time. Defense gave up some big plays against a talented Bay Springs offense, but they made a bunch as well. 3. West Point - Played Brandon to a draw. Not sure about what they return, but I’m hearing they lost a lot on defense. Is that true? 4. Wayne County - Beat who a lot of people consider the 4A favorite in Alabama pretty handily. QB is gonna play D1 one day. Running backs are excellent. Defense is stacked again. The War Eagles are a serious contender again. 5. Hattiesburg - Not sure what they did as far as a jamboree, but I know they have a lot of good skill players. Talent alone warrants this ranking.

It’s just seems like such a big decision to leave until just a few weeks before the actual games. I’d be fine with Southern Miss again. It is the perfect size.

They’ve been unusually silent on this with the season approaching. Anyone hearing anything?

Because corporate newspapers have largely killed our business. Most people believe it was the internet. That played a role but if you can find a real locally-owned community newspaper, chances are its doing fine. When these big media companies came in and gobbled up most of the nation’s newspapers, they did away with the community aspect. They run them like you would run one in a city with millions of people, and that formula doesn’t work.

There are still a lot of moving pieces, but from spending time with all the programs this summer, that’s how I see it. WC missed the playoffs, but lost three region contests by a combined 9 points with a mountain of injuries and a new head coach. If WC had beaten West last year, they would have been the No. 1 seed. Plus, WC returns more than everyone. Folks in Waynesboro should be excited. Wayne County has a phenomenal head coach and a bunch of talent.

From what I’ve gathered, Region 3-5A will look something like this IMO. 1. Wayne County 2. Laurel 3. Hattiesburg 4. West Jones 5. Brookhaven 6. South Jones 7. Natchez 8. Florence Wayne County returns a lot, including a very good QB and RB. Their new head coach turned the culture around quick. I haven’t seen this kind of energy from them in a long time. Laurel has one of the best offensive lines in the state. They lost their stud running back from last year and a couple of good receivers, but a lot of guys can run behind that line. 2 good QBs. One of them plays WR also and is very dangerous with the ball in his hands. Athletes all over the field on both sides of the ball. Hattiesburg has one of the best linebackers in the state in Tabias Hinton. The defense should be nasty. A lot like Laurel as far as athletes go. Their QB is gonna be a sophomore this year and he is supposed to be the real deal. West Jones lost a good bit, but they aren’t done. They have a couple of really good defensive players left including a MLB with multiple D1 offers. Dual-Threat QB returns, but they’ve got to have some receivers emerge. Offensive line will be solid, but they will have a new starter with almost no experience at RB. Brookhaven is probably the only real threat to push for that 4th spot. They beat Laurel last year, but I think they are a step behind. South Jones will be better. Todd Breland is too good not to get that thing rolling. They could have a winning record. Natchez and Florence are young. They probably won’t be very competitive.

Greetings, everyone. Please feel free to move this topic if it’s not allowed. I am the sports editor for the Laurel Leader-Call, and I am looking for some help in locating old high school football photos for our annual football magazine we produce. They can be still or action shots from any year up to about the 2015 season. The schools I need photos for are Bay Springs Stringer Heidelberg Laurel West Jones South Jones Northeast Jones Wayne County Wayne Academy Oak Grove PCS Petal Hattiesburg Taylorsville I have found some of what I need already, but feel free to give me any ideas of where to find more. Thanks in advance.