By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

POPLARVILLE — Poplarville veteran head coach Jay Beech has guided his Hornets to the Class 4A South State championship game in seven of the past eight seasons.
And Poplarville seems primed to make yet another deep postseason run this coming season as well.
The Hornets return not only 18 seniors but a few talented underclassmen as well as they look to make a trip to the Class 4A state championship game for the first time in four years but the fourth time under Beech.
“I was very pleased with how they worked over the spring and the summer,” Beech said, in a recent interview. “We had a really good turnout and our senior class is really showing some leadership.”
Poplarville went 10-4 last season and reeled off three straight south state playoff wins before falling to Columbia 28-21 in the Class 4A South State finals. The Hornets made that deep playoff run after moving into Region 8-4A, in which they ran roughshod over their league foes to capture the league title.

“We need to be physical and be mentally tough,” Beech added. “We’ve got a chance to accomplish a lot this year, but we’re gonna have to do some things that some people don’t expect us to do.”
The Hornets will look to sophomore standout running back Tylan Keys to have another solid season. Keys rushed for 1,222 yards on 148 carries with 24 touchdowns last season as just a freshman. Keys’ offers so far include Mississippi State, Boston College, Oregon, Ole Miss and Penn State as he enters his sophomore season for the Hornets.
Beech will also look to Nick Miller, a versatile two way standout, for senior leadership at both fullback and linebacker and the Hornets also return their starting quarterback in Sydney Blackmon who accounted for just over 1,000 yards of total offense and nine touchdowns last season.

Defensively, middle linebacker Ayden Harmon returns after collecting over 100 total tackles as a sophomore last year as does defensive end Josh Beck who registered three sacks and 11 tackles for loss last year as a junior.
Beech is appreciative of the strong community support his squad has gotten during its recent run of success on the gridiron.
“Our community is a huge factor in our success,” Beech concluded. “The support we get every Friday night instills pride for the program in our players and staff.”