Once again Friday night, Gautier won a game in a convincing fashion. And once again Friday night, super standout senior signal-caller Kaden Irving was a primary reason why.
The Gators invaded Vancleave Stadium in a big Region 4-5A contest and bounced the Bulldogs 55-28 for their sixth straight win on the season, and moved to 4-0 in region play as well. Gautier is tied atop the league standings with unbeaten Picayune, while East Central sits a game back at 3-1.
Irving accounted for all eight touchdowns in the win, throwing for six and running for two as the Gators moved to 6-1 overall.
He got his Gators off to a quick start, throwing for a trio of scoring passes in the first eight minutes of the game. He hit A.J. Phillips on a 31-yarder, Kelvin Beavers on a 39-yarder and Dillion Alfred on a 10-yard strike. Irving later hit Beavers on a 15-yard scoring strike in the second stanza.
John Peterson had a pair of scoring runs for Vancleave in the first half, and Gautier went into the locker room with a 28-21 halftime lead.
But Irving quickly dashed any hopes of a comeback that the Bulldogs harbored as the third frame developed.
He added scoring runs from 1 and 20-yards out, and then hit Phillips on a 41-yard scoring pass to make it 42-28 entering the fourth period.
Then, in the opening minute of the final quarter, Irving again hooked up with Phillips on a 38-yard touchdown toss to stretch the lead out to the final count of 55-28.
The loss dropped Vancleave to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in region play.
In other Region 4-5A play, East Central and Picayune picked up easy wins as the Hornets beat Long Beach 57-14 and the Maroon Tide blew past West Harrison 55-0.
Gautier hosts ECHS next week.
Also in league play, George County picked up it’s first win of the year with a 35-0 shutout of visiting Pearl River Central.
And, another local team won its first game of the season as well as Moss Point beat visiting Greene County 56-35 in Region 8-4A play. In other league play, Pass Christian beat Bay High 24-17.
In Region 4-6A action, Ocean Springs beat up on Pascagoula 37-0 for Homecoming and stayed unbeaten in the process. The Greyhounds extended their school record regular season winning streak to 17 games and moved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in league play as Bray Hubbard threw for three scores and ran for another and Will Gray added a 54-yard scoring dash as well.
Gulfport overcame a slight deficit and remained tied atop the region standings with OSHS knocking off visiting Harrison Central 29-19. Also, Biloxi beat St. Martin 42-22 and Hancock stunned home-standing D’Iberville 31-24.
In Region 4-1A action, Resurrection beat visiting Richton 38-26 to stay in contention for a playoff spot.
Also in Class 4A play, Poplarville beat Forrest County AHS 41-6.
In Region 8-3A play, St. Stanislaus beat Seminary 24-0.
Make sure and check out “Friday rewind” on 228 Sports featured on ourmshome.com Saturday afternoon for more prep football action.
