By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The next “Southern Six” Senior Spotlight sponsored by Reese’s of the school year is Vancleave’s Hunter Harper.

Each week throughout the school year, we here at SouthMiss6 Sports will highlight a senior student/athlete in the “Southern Six” to honor.

The Bulldogs, the defending Class 5A state champs, pummeled Pascagoula 10-0 Monday night in just six innings thanks in large part to the senior standout Harper.

The lefty accounted for two hits and drove in a game-high four runs in the big win over the Panthers. The win moved VHS to 6-2 overall, and gave new head coach Zac Haarala’s crew two out of three wins in a three games in four day span homestand.

Vancleave wasted no time in jumping out to a quick and commanding 6-0 lead after just two innings. Four of those runs came in the Bulldogs’ first at bat, including Harper’s run-scoring sacrifice fly.

Harper joined in on the hit parade in the second stanza, when his two-run single made it 6-0.

The southpaw Harper went the distance for VHS on the hill to pick up the win, scattering four singles and striking out eight while walking just one.

On Saturday, in a 16-7 loss to Class 7A foe Biloxi, Harper also collected a game-high three RBIs.

Hunter is a versatile, two sport standout that also started at fullback on the VHS football team last year that qualified for the Class 5A South State playoffs.

For over a decade now, Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cups has been the title sponsor of The Senior Bowl played annually in Mobile, Ala.

In addition to its new partnership with the Senior Bowl, the Reese’s® brand is also the official candy partner of the NCAA® and the title sponsor of the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Reese’s® College All-Star Game, which features the top Division I senior basketball student-athletes from around the country and is played the weekend of the NCAA Men’s Final Four®.

“The Reese’s brand is excited to continue our partnership with the Senior Bowl,” said Drew Iddings, Director, Promotions and Planning, The Hershey Company.  “We are confident that this partnership will continue to solidify the Reese’s brand’s leadership in collegiate athletics as well as honor senior student-athletes who achieved success on and off the field during their athletic careers.”

The 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl will take place on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 1:30 PM CT at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game and practices will be televised on the NFL Network. 

The Reese’s Senior Bowl is widely regarded as the preeminent college football all-star game and the first stage in the NFL Draft process. The longest continual-running all-star game has taken place in Mobile, Alabama the past 75 years.  More than 900 NFL personnel, including key decision-makers from all 32 teams, and over 1100 media members from around the country were credentialed this year. This past April, the game produced 110 total picks, representing 43 percent of the entire NFL draft.