By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

HURLEY — A pair of key Region 4-5A battles will unfold in Jackson County Friday night.
In Hurley, league-leading Gautier travels to the campus of East Central High School to take on the home-standing Hornets while perennial state power Laurel makes its first-ever trip to Vancleave to face the Bulldogs.
postseason positioning and possibilities will be on the line at both stops for all four teams.
The Gators go on the road in region play looking to maintain the top spot in the region race. The teams sit on the exact opposite end of the spectrum in the region race, as the Gators stand at 2-0 and ECHS is 0-2.
Gautier knocked off visiting Wayne County 31-8 last week as on offense quarterback Trey Irving went 17-of-24 passing for 239 yards with three touchdowns and he added a rushing touchdown. Defensively, linebacker Fred Nicholson had 14 tackles and a tackle for loss in the win and his fellow linebacker Denzel Larkin added 11 tackles and a tackle for loss.

This marks the 28th edition of Gautier having a football team and it is the 24th meeting all-time between these two teams on the gridiron, with the Gators in complete command of the all-time series at 17-6. Gautier has also won two straight in the series with ease, including a 34-7 thumping of the Hornets last season.
A Gator win won’t lock up their first region title since 2008, but a third league loss for the Hornets will severely dampen the postseason hopes of ECHS which had a string of nine straight playoff trips snapped last season.
Gautier has its sights set on a third straight trip to the Class 5A South State championship game and the first-ever trip to a state championship game for the Gators.
In fact, after falling on the road to eventual state champion Picayune in 2022 in the South State title tilt Gautier was forced on the road once again last year with a trip to the overall state finals on the line and the Gators fell to Laurel.

Meanwhile, those Golden Tornadoes head to Vancleave this week for a big test for both of these teams in Region 4-5A.
Vancleave and Laurel both sit at 1-1 after two weeks of league play, and this one may indeed go a long way in deciding who gets one of two home berths in the region race in the opening round of the upcoming Class 5A South State playoffs.
The Bulldogs went on the road and brought home what they hope is a statement win 37-13 over Stone last week, the same Tomcat team that went “Between the Bricks” and stunned the Golden Tornadoes 24-21 the prior week.
Meanwhile, Laurel dispatched East Central 40-14 at home last week behind the play of new quarterback Brysen Bivins who went 11-of-18 passing for 256 yards and six touchdowns in his first ever start for the Golden Tornadoes.

Vancleave linebacker Scottie Toothman recorded 16 tackles and four tackles for loss for the Bulldogs last week, while Bulldogs quarterback Wyatt Adams went 10-of-16 passing for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
This marks just the third all-time meeting in football between the two schools, with Laurel winning both previous encounters including a 45-6 thumping in Jones County last year.