By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LUCEDALE — History could be repeating some 33 years later this week for the football team at George County High School.
Almost without question, Eric Moulds and Deuce Knight are the two most highly recruited male athletes ever to compete for the Rebels on the gridiron. And, if GCHS loses to West Jones Friday night on the road in Soso, then their prep careers will have yet another connection for the pair.
But this one would be a more dubious distinction. And would include their respective head coaches as well.

From 1989-1991, the standout Moulds paced the Rebels to three straight South State playoff berths, which was a first in program history. However, under then head coach Hal Holmes, Moulds and his Rebels lost three consecutive seasons in the opening round.
Holmes was replaced before the next season rolled around.
If George County and Knight lose to the home-standing Mustangs this week, Knight will also end the prep portion of his career without a playoff win in two attempts over a three year span as the starting quarterback.
And current Rebel leader James Ray will become the first GCHS head football coach since Holmes to lose in his first three playoff appearances.

“Eric Moulds is by far the best player I ever played against, and one of the four or five best I ever saw,” veteran journalist and East Central High School graduate Creg Stephenson said. Stephenson is currently an award winning journalist for The Alabama Media Group based out of Mobile and he also covered prep sports in South Mississippi for two decades.

“We played him my senior year at East Central, when he was a junior. He was mainly known as a basketball player at the time, but that changed pretty quickly. He only touched the ball once against us, but it was a 70-yard touchdown. I’m not sure our safety had even moved before he had caught the ball and was headed to the end zone. But it just goes to show you that in football, one great player — especially if it’s not a quarterback — doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have success in the playoffs.”

In 1989, Holmes’ first year at GCHS and Moulds’ sophomore season, the Rebels finished 7-4 overall and in second place behind South Jones in District 4-6A play. George County was forced to hit the road to Magnolia in the first round of the playoffs and were quickly dispatched by home-standing South Pike 41-3. The Eagles went on to win the Class 4A state championship that season.

The following season, the Rebels rolled to the district title in that same league and hosted West Jones to open the postseason. The Mustangs came into Lucedale and stunned the Rebels and Holmes 10-7 when Stan Hollified booted a 42-yard field goal with just :11 seconds to play.
West Jones fell at home 12-0 to South Pike the next week.
Then, the following season, GCHS was elevated to Class 5A before Moulds’ final season began. But the Rebels still finished second behind then perennial state power Moss Point in District 7-5A thanks to a huge upset win on the road over Pascagoula and that earned them a trip to D.I. Patrick Stadium in the Hub City to face Home-standing Hattiesburg.
The Tigers then produced their first shutout of the season, stopping GCHS 12-0 in the final prep football game of Moulds’ career as well as the final game for Holmes at GCHS.
Moulds went on to sign with Mississippi State. In Starkville, Moulds caught 117 passes for 2,022 yards in a ground-oriented offense for head coach Jackie Sherrill. He also excelled on special teams as a kick returner, leading the nation in kickoff returns in 1994 averaging 33 yards per return.
He was a first round draft choice of the Buffalo Bills in 1996, and went on to play 12 seasons in the National Football League where he caught 764 passes for 9,995 yards and 49 touchdowns. Moulds made the All-Rookie team in 1996 and played in three Pro Bowls later in his career. He earned All-Pro honors twice.

Fast forward 30 years after that Hattiesburg game from 1991 to 2021 for GCHS, and Ray, in his second season, lost his first playoff game 59-20 at home to Laurel when Knight was a freshman.
George County missed the state playoffs the next season after going 2-8 in Knight’s sophomore season.
Last year, the Rebels once again fell at home in the opening round of the state playoffs to Terry 41-39.
This season, the Rebels lost their final two regular season games with Knight at the helm to Picayune and Pascagoula which dropped them to the third seed in Region 4-6A. So another loss to what is a moderately favored West Jones team this week will end Knight’s career just like that of Moulds with no playoff wins.
Knight, one of only two Five Star quarterback recruits ever in the state of Mississippi, will end up playing college ball somewhere and what happens then remains to be seen. But another loss by Ray’s Rebels this week would leave the prep careers of the two most highly recruited football players in GCHS history forever intertwined.