By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

Halloween night could be a night to remember for Stone.
And, residually, for Vancleave as well.
As the old crow flies, the distance between Stone High and Northeast Jones is about 67 miles or about an hour by car.
Or, almost 54 years it seems.
When the Tomcats travel to Tiger Stadium in Laurel on Halloween Night this week, it will mark the first regular season meeting on the football field between Stone and NEJ since Sept. 24th, 1971, or 54 years and one month.
The two teams have met in the South State playoffs more recently, as in 27 years ago, on Nov. 13th, 1998, a 6-0 home win for the Tigers. The last home game against NEJ was also in the state playoffs 45 years ago, in round one of the 1980 postseason, which the Tigers also won 21-14.

In fact, Stone and Stone County is 0-5 all-time on the gridiron against NEJ.
But, a first-ever win by Stone over NEJ this week will give the Tomcats the Region 4-5A title. It will mark the first region title for Stone in three years, and the first-ever for third year SHS head coach Jacob Aycock.
Meanwhile, in Jackson County, a win by home-standing Vancleave over arch-rival East Central would clinch a state playoff berth for the Bulldogs.

Both teams are in dire need of a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, as VHS is 1-2 in Region 4-5A and ECHS winless at 0-3.
Vancleave is looking for its fourth straight trip to the postseason and seventh in the past eight years, while East Central has missed the playoffs the past two seasons.
This marks the 65th edition of this annual affair, and the overall series has been pretty close with the Bulldogs up just 33-31 after the Hornets pulled out a 28-26 win last year.