Dillon Brown, Hattiesburg power past Florence 28-21 for third win in a row
FLORENCE — Dillon Brown picked a good night to have one of his best games.
Behind the running of Brown, along with a bend-but-not-break defense, Hattiesburg was able to hold off a late Florence rally 28-21 at Eagle Stadium on Friday night in a critical Region 3-5A contest.
“I told the guys all week every game, including this one, from here on out is a playoff game or treat it like one," Hattiesburg coach Tony Vance said. "We battled a lot of adversity tonight and fought through it and found a way to win. Florence is one of the most improved teams I’ve ever played from year one to year two. Hats off to them. Our kids did enough to pull it out.”
After the 0-4 start, the Tigers (3-4, 3-0 Region 3-5A) have won three in a row.
Hattiesburg struck first on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead as Brown scored on an 8-yard run with 6:24 left in the first quarter.
Brown added his second touchdown run from 12 yards out with 7:39 left in the second quarter to extend the Hattiesburg lead to 14-0.
Florence got on the board on a 15-yard run by Avery Taylor with 1:20 left before halftime to cut the Hattiesburg lead 14-7.
After the Eagles fumbled on their first play of the third quarter Brown scored on a 17-yard run to extend the Tigers lead to 21-7 with 4:22 left.
Florence quickly answered as Xzavion Quick scored on a 10-yard run to cut the Hattiesburg lead to 21-14 with 4:11 left in the third quarter.
On fourth down Hattiesburg’s Malcolm Boykin took the snap ran to the far sideline and scampered 44 yards to the end zone to give the Tigers a 28-14 lead with 1:49 left.
Taylor scored on a 45-yard touchdown pass for Florence with 1:05 left to cut the lead down to 28-21 with 1:05 left.
Hattiesburg’s Jalen Peterson recovered the onside kick with 1:04 left to seal the win.
Brown finished with 209 yards rushing on 30 carries with three touchdowns to lead the Tigers.
“Just kept running the ball hard and the offensive line did a great job blocking all night,” Brown said. “Being 0-4 sucked, and we just been at practice working hard, being competitive and playing harder than we were when we were 0-4.”
“He’s a great kid and just runs hard, and in my opinion is one of the most underrated running backs in the state,” Vance said. “We played a tough non-division schedule to prepare us for games like this and gives ourselves a chance.”
Florence quarterback Luke Reed passed for 120 yards with a touchdown. The Eagles (5-2, 1-2) were held to just 82 yards rushing.
“We came out a little flat, but throughout the game we had opportunities and didn’t take advantage,” said Florence coach Rod Davis. “Turnovers at the wrong time killed us and we let this one get away. We got to lick our wounds and bounce back.”
