By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

POPLARVILLE — McComb’s recent late season surge continued into the first half against Poplarville in the Class 4A South State semifinals Friday night.
But just before halftime, the home-standing Hornets decided it would be the end of the line for the up-start Tigers.
Poplarville overcame a pair of first half deficits and tallied 35 unanswered points in one span to dispose of McComb 41-21. The win earns the Hornets a spot in the Class 4A South State championship game next week on the road at Forest.
Poplarville now stands at 11-1 overall under veteran head coach Jay Beech and he has his Hornets in the South State title tilt for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

“I can’t express how proud I am of this team,” Beech said. “Just the steps it took to get here and the close games we’ve found a way to win. How hard it was to win in the first and second rounds. I told them at the half that I thought we had taken their best punch and were able to survive. They didn’t knock us out and we just kept coming and coming were able to pull away in the second half.”
Tied up at 14-14 in the waning moments of the second quarter, Hornet cornerback Jason Smith picked off a Tiger pass at his own 18 and returned it to mid-field.
Just moments later, PHS running back Ty Keys leaped into the end zone from 2-yards out to give his Hornets a lead they wouldn’t relinquish at 21-14 heading into halftime.

It marked the second score of the first half that came after a key Poplarville turnover conversion, as Hornet defensive back Trac Smith picked off a Tiger pass early in the second stanza setting up a 1-yard quarterback sneak by senior signal-caller Sydney Blackmon.
Armed with that seven point advantage heading into the second half, Poplarville continued to steadily extend its lead thanks to scoring runs by Blackmon, Zack Case and Thomas Lambert.
The second of two first half touchdown passes from McComb quarterback Jaquan Lizanna gave the Tigers a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

But the home team responded with a fairly quick scoring drive that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Nick Miller to knot things up at 14-14 and kick off that 35-point unanswered streak for the Hornets that turned the tide in Poplarville’s favor and signaled the beginning of the end for McComb.
After Lizanna’s first scoring strike gave MHS a 7-0 lead entering the second quarter, Smith’s interception led to Blackmon’s short scoring run to tie the game up for the first time at 7-7.
Smith’s brother Titan Smith also came up with a big sack in the game as well.
Jaxon Schultz was perfect on six points after attempts for PHS also.

The Hornets were coming off a pair of one point wins the previous two weeks 27-26 over Mendenhall at home and 21-20 on the road at water Payton Stadium in Columbia last week.
McComb started the season off at 1-4, including an 0-4 stretch after winning its season opener. The Tigers then got hot and came into Friday night on a five game win streak and had allowed just nine points total in a pair of comfortable wins the prior two weeks.
The Tigers finish at 6-5 overall.