By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sports Writer

GULFPORT — The West Harrison Hurricanes (3-1) scored on their first seven possessions and held the Bay High Tigers (1-3) scoreless on their way to a 55-0 shutout win on Friday night.

The Hurricanes took a 42=0 lead into halftime, and after they scored on their opening drive of the second half to extend their lead to 48-0, the game continued from that point with a running clock.

Bay High had no answer to the Hurricanes punishing rushing attack that accounted for big play after big play and first down after first down, while their defense held the visitors to three first half first downs. The Tigers never made a serious scoring threat.

“It’s been a rough week over here,” said Hurricanes’ coach Quincy Patrick. “It’s been a very tough week, but our guys handled the adversity with the young man passing. He went to school here. He went to Gulfport in August, but he was one of ours, and we loved him.

“I am proud of our guys. They’ve handled the adversity, and with homecoming, they handled it well. They’re great kids. We are so blessed.

“I am going to watch the film this weekend, and I promise you, there’s some things we’re going to have to fix,” said Patrick.  

The Hurricanes’ first score came after their defense denied the visitors a first down on their initial possession, and backed them up to their own 9-yard line, forcing a fourth-and-22 for a first down. The Hurricanes fielded the Tigers’ punt at the Tigers’ 42. On their fifth snap, Samuel Harris carried from 6 yards out for the score.

The Hurricanes held the Tigers to three snaps and a punt on their ensuing possession, and once again the ended up in good field position, this time starting at their own 45-yard line.

Again, the Hurricanes made quick work of their offense, going five plays again, as Sean Fairley capped the drive with a 4-yard carry to put the Hurricanes 14-0 after Dezi Curley’s second successful PAT kick.

The Tigers fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Hurricanes recovered at the Bay High 35-yard line. On the first snap, quarterback De’Mario Davies connected with Fairley for the 35-yard scoring toss to put the Hurricanes up 21-0 with just under four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The Tigers picked up their first first down of the night on their next possession, but they couldn’t put two first down together on the same possession. The Hurricanes had their toughest field position of the night after the Tigers’ punt, starting at their own 27-yard line. But it didn’t matter. Jordan Stapleton broke away for a 73-yard scoring run on the first snap. The Hurricanes led 28-0 with 1:26 remaining on the first quarter clock.

Harris would score two second-quarter touchdowns for the Hurricanes, the first on a 13-yard carry early in the period, and a 4-yard carry with just over a minute remaining in the quarter.

Kaiden Miller would cap the 9-play opening drive of the second half with a 16-yard scoring run to put the Hurricanes up 48-0 after the PAT kick was blocked.

The Tigers fumbled the ensuing kickoff away to the Hurricanes, and again the Hurricanes made quick work of the turnover, as Miller carried from 22 yards out for his second touchdown of the night to close out the game’s scoring.

Bay High’s coach Jeremy Turcotte said that he takes full responsibility for the Tigers inability to score and stop the Hurricanes’ scoring storm.

“We just got totally outclassed, and it all goes back to me,” said Turcotte. “We’ve got to do better.”

Bay High hosts Pearl River Central in a non-district contest next Friday in Bay St. Louis. West Harrison travels to Moss Point for a non-district matchup next Friday.