By TK Edwards/Contributing Writer

HURLEY — East Central is on its way back to the state football playoffs.
And, Vancleave is not.
The Hornets captured the latest version of the Pascagoula River Bowl with a solid 27-7 win over the visiting arch-rival Bulldogs Friday night. The win, the third straight in this annual affair for ECHS, moves head coach Sam Huff’s crew to 4-5 overall but more importantly 3-1 in the region race, and ECHS is back in the playoffs for the first time in four years.

After a mostly uneventful nearly ten minutes in the opening quarter, East Central would find the end zone at the 02:49 mark on a 15-yard touchdown run by Gunner Cochran and the Hornets led 7-0 after a successful PAT.
The home team would waste little time getting back on the scoreboard with a 32-yard run on a speed sweep by Adrian Marsalis with 10:40 left in the second quarter to double up the Bulldogs at 14-0 at haftime.
East Central would receive the second half kickoff and work nearly five minutes off the clock, scoring with 07:03 to go in the third quarter on an 11 yard run by Koen Myers to make it 20-0.

Less than a minute later, Vancleave would score their first and ultimately last touchdown of the night on a 29-yard scoring run by Cam Sherrod and East Central led 20-7 with 06:56 to go in the third.
The final score of the night would see East Central’s Landon Hicks break off a 60-yard touchdown scamper with 05:41 in the third quarter to set the final tally at 27-7.

The loss, the sixth straight this season for VHS, drops the Bulldogs out of state playoff contention at 0-4 in the region race and 2-7 overall.