By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The next “Southern Six” Senior Spotlight sponsored by Reese’s of the school year is Anthony Tanner of East Central.

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

With the season on the line for the Hornets trailing Florence 2-1 on the road Wednesday in game three of the Class 5A South State semifinals, Tanner led off the top of the sixth stanza with a single and Grant Vick followed with a walk. Matthew Combs then offered up a sacrifice bunt that the Eagles mis-played into a two-run error as both Tanner and Vick crossed the plate in the process and suddenly ECHS was up 3-2 with a lead it would never relinquish. Meanwhile, on the mound. Tanner took over for starter Christian McFaul to open the sixth and allowed just one walk in the sixth and one in the seventh to record a save and extend the season for the Hornets.

For the series, Tanner had a team-high six hits, including a game-high three in game one, as well as two doubles and and he drove in two runs.

Tanner and ECHS face off with South Jones for the Class 5A South State championship next week.

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.