(Editors Note: This is the first of a four part series on how the schedules shape up for the four “Southern Six” squads that reached their respective South State championship games last season.)

By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The accolades keep pouring in for Poplarville head coach Jay Beech.

Late last week, Beech and his assistants were selected as “Football Coach and Staff of the Year” for 2024-2025 as presented annually by The Mississippi Association of Coaches.

Poplarville won it’s first ever state championship on the football field last season, as the Hornets overcame an eight point deficit in the fourth quarter to pull out a heart-stopping 29-28 win over perennial state power Louisville at M.M. Roberts Stadium in early December in the Class 4A state championship game.

Hornet sophomore running back Ty Keys finished with 130 yards rushing on 23 carries and a touchdown. He also converted a two-point conversion and had a kickoff return for a touchdown and was named the “Most Valuable Player” in the game.

Beech was named as the Class 4A “Coach of the Year” after that historic outcome. He also became the all-time leader in wins for a head coach at Poplarville Friday during the season, as the Hornets registered a come-from-behind 34-31 win over visiting Newton County.

Heading into his 12th season at the helm of the Hornets, Beech’s troops have rung up 119 wins during that stretch along with five Class 4A South State titles. 35 of those wins came in the playoffs.

New Schedule

Also, after two seasons in Region 8-4A, the Hornets are headed back to the more “northern” loop of Region 7-4A this coming season.

And that move contributes to the fact that Poplarville will face an almost completely new schedule in 2025 than it did in its state championship run last season.

While the Hornets ended last season with an historic outcome winning the first state title in program history, they will open the upcoming season with yet another historic game facing West Harrison.

The contest in Poplarville on Friday, Aug. 29th, will not only mark the first ever meting between the Hornets and Hurricanes on the football field but it will serve as West Harrison’s first contest ever as a Class 7A program.

Beech’s crew will face just county rival Pearl River Central and Stone as returning foes from last year’s slate, but the Hornets in addition to the Hurricanes have added two other “Southern Six” opponents this season in Hancock and another county rival Picayune.