By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

GULFPORT — Head coach Quincy Patrick has led the West Harrison football team to its best ever record over a two year span in the past two seasons.
Now, he and his Hurricanes hope to add a first-ever state playoff berth to that list of accomplishments as well.
West Harrison has finished fifth in region play the past two years, but unfortunately, whether it was Region 4-5A two years ago or Region 4-6A last season, only four teams qualified for the south state playoffs and each time the Hurricanes missed out by a single game.

“We get to measure who we are every week in our region,” Patrick, who has guided the Hurricanes to an 11-9 overall record the past two seasons combined, said in a recent interview. “Our goal is to be the best football team we can be and take the next step. We are chasing a playoff spot because that’s the next step.”
After notching just their second winning season in program history two years ago at 6-4, the Hurricanes started last season off in fine fashion at 4-1. But the beginning of Region 4-6A play started a stretch of four straight league losses to Hancock, Picayune, George County and Pascagoula and yet again delayed the playoff search for West Harrison.

Patrick’s squad finished the season with a 41-0 thumping of Long Beach to finish up an even 5-5 on the campaign.
“I only know one way to get better and that’s hard work,” Patrick, who enters his seventh season at the helm of the Hurricanes, added. “We have to trust the vision, and trust the process. We are right there, again we just have to take the next step.”
West Harrison returns its starting offensive line, which is good news for running backs Trey Harris and Jordan Stapleton after the duo combined for right at 2,000 yards rushing last season.

The Hurricanes start the upcoming campaign off with a pair of road games, traveling to Leakesville to face Greene County and then heading to Sumrall in week two.
West Harrison then gets two straight home games, welcoming in West Marion and then “Southern Six” foe Bay High in week four as the Hurricanes try and replicate that fast start from last season.
The key to Patrick and his team’s season though, will come in that same four game stretch to open region play against that same quartet of teams in a span that will ultimately decide whether or not West Harrison earns a South State playoff pot for the first time in the 16 year history of the program.