The George County Rebels clinched a playoff spot Friday night with a convincing 68-49 win on the road over the West Harrison Hurricanes.
George County quarterback Deuce Knight finished with more than 6oo yards of total offense.
He completed 22-of-28 passes for 524 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed nine times for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
The Rebels’ Brenn Moody finished with nine catches for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
Other George County standouts were Montrell Dortch (six catches for 113 yards and one touchdown), DJ McNair (four receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns) and Jarrod Banks (three for 114 and a score).
Jordan Stapleton had another monster game for the Hurricanes, rushing 25 times for 264 yards and three touchdowns, catching three passes for 39 yards with a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
West Harrison’s Trey Harris carried 11 times for 89 yards and a touchdown, De’Mario Davies finished 9-of-15 for 164 yards and two touchdowns and DePatrick Byrd had five catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
George County improved to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in Region 4-6A play heading into next week’s showdown against Picayune on the road with the top spot in the region on the line. West Harrison, which came into region play on a four-game winning streak, fell to 4-4 and 0-3.
West Harrison won the toss and deferred, putting the high-powered Rebels offense on the field first.
It didn’t take long for the Rebels to take the lead as Knight hit Moody on a 63-yard touchdown strike. Less than two minutes in, the Rebels were up 6-0 and would never trail.
After a turnover, the air assault continued as Knight found McNair for a 57-yard touchdown and Knight added a two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead.
The rest of the night turned into a back-and-forth affair with each offense putting up huge numbers.
Stapleton got the Hurricanes on the board with a 36-yard touchdown run and the first quarter ended with the Rebels up 14-7.
The Rebels took less than two minutes to answer as McNair caught his second touchdown from Knight, this from 13 yards out as the Rebels went back up by two scores at 21-7.
A muffed kickoff by the Canes gave the ball right back to the Rebels and Branden Gautier capped a drive with an 11-yard touchdown run for a 27-7 Rebels lead. Gautier would leave the game later in the quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return.
Harris scored from 32 yards out as the Canes cut the lead to 27-13 with four minutes to go in the second quarter.
The teams would then combine to score five touchdowns before halftime.
Knight hit a wide-open Banks for an 80-yard touchdown strike to make it 34-13, followed by a 50-yard run by Stapleton to make it 34-21 after a two-point conversion.
Knight answered with his fifth touchdown pass of the half, hitting Moody from 50 yards out and making it 42-21.
After a roughing the kicker on the extra point, the Rebels recovered an onside kick and Knight capped a short drive with a 9-yard run, making it 48-21 with 25 seconds to go in the half.
West Harrison had time to answer quickly as Davies connected with Stapleton from 7 yards out on the final play of the half, making it 48-28.
West Harrison received the second-half kickoff, but the Rebels defense forced a turnover on downs and Knight added his second rushing touchdown, this from 2 yards out to make it 55-28.
The Canes answered back when Davies hit Byrd on a 4-yard strike, making it 55-35.
The Rebels answered with less than a minute to go in the third quarter when Moody hauled in his third touchdown on a 7-yard play as George County made it 62-35.
The Rebels defense got another stop to start the fourth quarter. When Dortch scored from 44 yards out as he caught Knight’s seventh touchdown pass, the Rebels had their biggest lead at 68-35.
West Harrison had the final two touchdowns of the game: Stapleton on a 2-yard plunge with 2:13 left and Jeremy Jones from 11 yards out for the 68-49 final.
George County, Pascagoula and Picayune have clinched three of the four playoff spots in Region 4-6A while Hancock needs one more victory to join them in the postseason.
George County travels to Picayune next week before hosting Pascagoula on the final Thursday night of the regular season.
A Picayune win next week would clinch the region crown for the Maroon Tide while the Rebels still need to win out.
Hancock travels to Long Beach next week and could clinch a playoff spot before taking on Picayune to end the season.
West Harrison travels to Pascagoula next week and must win out and get some help to make the postseason.
