Last season was one of the more successful ones on the football field for Vancleave in the past decade or so.
After all, the Bulldogs are coming off one of their biggest playoff wins in program history after going on the road and upsetting homestanding Hattiesburg to open the Class 5A South state playoffs.
And now, with the implementation of a seventh classification by the Mississippi High School Association for the first time ever, Vancleave hopes to continue that success as the climate around the Bulldogs changes just a bit.
The Bulldogs enter their fifth season under the direction of head coach Kevin Fant, and are coming off an 8-4 mark which is the best so far in Fant’s tenure. Vanlcleave finished fourth in Region 8-5A, which was considered in all likelihood as the toughest league in Class 5A state wide last year.
The 8-4 record marked the best win total in 12 years for the Bulldogs, since an 11-2 mark in 2010. The 41-35 win over homstanding and Region 7-5A champ Hattiesburg is right up there in the postseason victory anals with a home win over mighty Picayune in 2010 to open the playoffs as well.
The new expansion brings a pair of new “neighbors” in the newly configured Region 4-5A for Vancleave, as the new league is now comprised of VHS, Gautier, East Central, Stone, Laurel and Wayne County.
Fant and his band of Bulldogs kick off the 2023 prep football campaign on Friday, Aug. 25th when they host Jackson County foe St. Martin, which is now a member of the new Class 7A.
Here is 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
