Longtime assistant Sam Huff took over as head coach at East Central last season, and the Hornets just kept doing what they do.
East Central qualified for the state playoffs for the ninth straight season last year, by far the longest streak in school history. Now, with the Mississippi High School Activities Association expanding to seven classifications for the first time ever, the Hornets in Huff’s second year at the helm hope to extend that streak and get back into the winning column in the postseason once again as well.
Huff’s crew will remain in Class 5A and will compete in a newly formed Region 4-5A. The new expansion brings a pair of new “neighbors” in the newly configured league for East Central, as the new loop is now comprised of ECHS, Gautier, Vancleave, Stone, Laurel and Wayne County.
Although the Hornets have qualified for the South State playoffs nine consecutive years, they haven’t won a playoff game since 2017 including a 38-0 thumping by homestanding West Jones to open the postseason last year. The last East Central win in the playoffs came in that aforementioned 2018 season with a 10-6 win over West Lauderdale in a march to the Class 4A South State title tilt.
The following week, the Hornets fell to Poplarville at home and since then its been four straight first-round losses all on the road for ECHS.
East Central finished third in Region 4-5A last season with an impressive overall record of 8-3, losing only to region rivals Gautier and two-time defending state champion powerful Picayune in the regular season.
Huff and his Hornets kick off the 2023 prep football campaign on Friday, Aug. 25th when East Central hits U.S. Highway 63 and heads a few miles north to take on homestanding George County in the renewal of a neighboring rivalry.
Here are the complete list of schedules for Region 4-5A this season:
REGION 4-5A
EAST CENTRAL
Coach: Sam Huff
A. 25 at George County
S. 1 Pascagoula
S. 8 at Lawrence County
S. 15 North Pike
S. 22 at St. Martin
S. 29 open
O. 6 Wayne County
O. 13 Laurel
O. 20 at Gautier
O. 27 at Vancleave
N. 2 Stone
GAUTIER
Coach: Marc High
A. 25 at Gulfport
S. 1 D’Iberville
S. 8 at Pascagoula
S. 15 Moss Point
S. 22 open
S. 29 at Columbia
O. 6 Vancleave
O. 13 at Wayne County
O. 20 East Central
O. 27 Stone
N. 2 at Laurel
LAUREL
Coach: Ryan Earnest
A. 25 at West Jones
S. 1 Hattiesburg
S. 8 Jefferson Davis County
S. 15 at Meridian
S. 22 at Oak Grove
S. 29 McComb
O. 6 at Stone
O. 13 at East Central
O. 20 Vancleave
O. 27 at Wayne County
N. 2 Gautier
STONE
Coach: Jacob Aycock
A. 25 at Biloxi
S. 1 Poplarville
S. 8 open
S. 15 St. Martin
S. 22 Quitman
S. 29 at St. Stanislaus
O. 6 Laurel
O. 13 at Vancleave
O. 20 Wayne County
O. 27 at Gautier
N. 2 at East Central
VANCLEAVE
Coach: Kevin Fant
A. 25 St. Martin
S. 1 at Gulfport
S. 8 at Forrest Co. AHS
S. 15 George County
S. 22 Hancock
S. 29 open
O. 6 at Gautier
O. 13 Stone
O. 20 at Laurel
O. 27 East Central
N. 2 Wayne County
WAYNE COUNTY
Coach: Jack Hankins
A. 24 at Oak Grove
S. 1 open
S. 8 Greene County
S. 15 West Jones
S. 22 at George County
S. 29 D’Iberville
O. 6 at East Central
O. 13 Gautier
O. 20 at Stone
O. 27 Laurel
N. 2 at Vancleave
