By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

PASS CHRISTIAN — The Pass High Pirates finished their season, clinching the 4A-Region 8 district championship, the first in school history, and with all the momentum that a team might want as they enter the first round of the playoffs this Friday night. The Pirates wrapped up the season with a 48-0 shutout win over Bay High on the road with a running clock most of the second half.

The Pirates are featured in the “Vertical Raise Game of the Week” as presented by SouthMiss6 Sports this week.

Each week during the prep football season, SouthMiss6 Sports will feature a “GOTW” sponsored by Vertical Raise, the premier online fundraising platform for athletic teams and associated clubs and supporters of all ages.

“I told the guys that I was proud of what they’ve done in the regular season,” said Pirates coach Jeff Stockstill. “I think that’s an indication of their preparation and their commitment to each other. I think the best thing they’ve done all year was after one game, they turned it off, they put it away, and they get on the next one, and they re-prepare.

“I couldn’t emphasize that enough,” said Stockstill, “because the caliber of talent that we’re going to see in the playoffs, I don’t think we’ve seen it in the regular season.”

The Pirates are going to face South Pike High School of Magnolia in the first round this Friday night in Pass Christian. South Pike (2-6, 1-3) is the fourth seeded team from 4A-Region 7, finishing behind division leader Columbia (10-0, 4-0), McComb (8-1, 3-1), and Poplarville (5-4, 2-2).

The Pirates are trusting that the momentum they’ve built, finishing the season on a 7-game win streak and a 9-1 record will keep them playing at a high level. They finished the season with a perfect district record of 4-0, with a defense that shut out two of their district opponents and gave up only 22 points to the other two: Pass 28 – Greene County 14, and Pass 36 – Forrest County AHS 8.

The offense, under the superb signal-calling of junior quarterback Paris Trivillion has been remarkable, whether it’s passing the ball to his trio of three receivers or getting the ball in the hands of its punishing running backs. The offense is operating on 12 cylinders – every position on the side of the ball, and trusting the defense to do its job as its trusted 12th cylinder.

“We’re going to really have to refocus and step our game up,” said Stockstill. “South Pike is going to put some talent on the field. But I told our guys that they’ve finished out the season the way they should. They had a really good season. But I hope that we can put it behind us and refocus, because we’re going to see some really good players in the playoffs.”

The Pirates will also field some very good talent when they host South Pike on Friday. Trivillion is one of the top-rated quarterbacks in South Mississippi. He has passed for 2029 yards on 129 completions on 245 attempts for 28 touchdowns. He is also the Pirates leading rusher with 931 yards on 85 carries. Doug White has complimented the rushing attack with 513 yards on 82 carries.

Dwight Thomas is the Pirates’s leading receiver with 727 yards on 42 catches, followed by Amarie James and Larkin Lewis with 29 catches each for 612 yards and 452 yards, respectively.

Jayden Taylor leads the Pirates defense with 95 tackles, including 20 TFL (tackles for loss). Stefen King had 74 tackles (8 TFLs). Brandon Laneaux tallied 61 tackles, 5 interceptions and a fumble recovery, and Kaiden Mooney tallied 44 tackles and two interceptions.

In addition to the talent, the momentum, and having homefield for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Pirates also have a coach that has some experience with winning championships. Stockstill led Scott Central to back-to-back State Championship in 2021 and ’22.

Going to be really interesting to see how the Pirates approach this first-round game against South Pike on Friday night in Pass Christian.

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