By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

Home-standing Stone High jumped out to a 17-0 lead and held off a furious rally by Florence to slip past the Eagles 17-14 in the opening round of the Class 5A South State playoffs Friday night.

The win, that came at A.L. May Stadium on the campus of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, moves the Tomcats on to a second round date on the road at Brookhaven next week.

Stone stands at 6-5 overall and the season comes to an end for Florence at 6-4.

Also, In Columbia at Walter Payton Field, visiting Poplarville slipped past Columbia 21-20 Friday night. The Hornets will move on to host McComb next week. Poplarville is now 10-2 overall.

MHSAA PLAYOFFS

First Round

CLASS 7A

Germantown 43, Oxford 34

Madison Central 42, DeSoto Central 14

Tupelo 48, Lewisburg 7

Starkville 44, Horn Lake 14

Brandon 43, D’Iberville 28

Petal 20, Gulfport 17

Ocean Springs 24, Northwest Rankin 17

Oak Grove 34, Biloxi 20

CLASS 6A

Grenada 35, Callaway 0

Neshoba Central 28, Lake Cormorant 22

Warren Central 43, Saltillo 0

South Panola 34, Ridgeland 27

Hattiesburg 48, Hancock 14

Pascagoula 41, Terry 0

Picayune 48, Pearl River Central 7

George County 26, West Jones 22

CLASS 5A

West Point 41, Yazoo City 0

Holmes County 20, Corinth 7

Cleveland Central 31, Pontotoc 13

Canton 50, New Hope 41

Brookhaven 42, Vancleave 21

Stone 17, Florence 14

Gautier 36, Natchez 30

Wayne County 42, South Jones 14

Second Round

CLASS 4A

Shannon 29, Kosciusko 20

West Lauderdale 25, Houston 7

Louisville 58, Amory 7

New Albany 40, Itawamba AHS 30

Forest 23, Lanier 20

Quitman 55, Forrest Co. AHS 21

Poplarville 21, Columbia 20

McComb 42, Northeast Jones 9

MHSAA PLAYOFFS

Second Round

CLASS 7A

Germantown (7-4) at Madison Central (9-2)

Starkville (7-4) at Tupelo (11-0)

Petal (8-4) at Brandon (10-1)

Oak Grove (8-3) at Ocean Springs (7-4)

CLASS 6A

Neshoba Central (6-5) at Grenada (11-1)

South Panola (9-2) at Warren Central (8-3)

Pascagoula (9-2) at Hattiesburg (11-0)

George County (7-5) at Picayune (10-2)

CLASS 5A

Holmes County (8-3) at West Point (8-3)

Canton (8-3) at Cleveland Central (11-0)

Stone (6-5) at Brookhaven (10-1)

Wayne County (5-7) at Gautier (10-1)

Third Round

CLASS 4A

Shannon (8-2) at West Lauderdale (9-3)

New Albany (11-0) at Louisville (11-1)

Quitman (7-4) at Forest (11-1)

McComb (6-4) at Poplarville (10-2)