HAZLEHURST — The rain poured, the mud got deeper and in the endthe Hazlehurst Indians danced with a regrouped view. The “Bad Boys”from central Copiah County screamed and beamed with excitementafter upsetting highly-touted Franklin County 12-0 Fridaynight.

Hazlehurst takes over sole possession of first place in thepowerful Region 7-3A.

“We made the big plays when we needed them the most,” said ahappy Hazlehurst Indians coach Willie Brown. “We knew that they(Franklin) couldn’t throw, so we forced them to. Once they did, weknew we had the game won.”

Highlighted by a smothering defense and a first half passingattack, the Indians improved to 5-1 on the season and 4-0 insidethe region.

The Indians’ victory seemingly assured them the region title.Hazlehurst has district games left with North Pike and JeffersonCounty on the road before they are officially crowned regionchamps. This game was billed, “The Battle for Region 7-3ACrown.”

“This one was big for our team and our community,” added Brown.”Franklin County has a great team and a good coach. They played ustough. We just knew we had to force them to do things they weren’tused to doing.”

Hazlehurst used the aggressive running of 5-foot-8, 242-poundsenior full back Dexter Douglas to wear down the Franklin Countydefense. Once Douglas broke the Bulldogs (6-1, 3-1) backs withstrong and powerful runs, Hazlehurst quarterback Fred Robinson wentto the air with quick and agile passes that stunned the FranklinCounty secondary.

“We had some opportunities. We just did a bad job on two bigplays,” said Franklin County field general Anthony Hart. “We hadpoor coverage on two passing plays, and in the end that was whathurt us.”

Hart watched Robinson pick the Bulldog secondary apart in thefirst half for 80 yards offensively. Robinson hooked up withsophomore wideout Damien Anderson from 33 yards for the Indiansfirst score in the first frame. Later, Robinson hooked up with6-foot-4, 190-pound receiver Daymone Carroll from 18-yards at thebeginning of the second period.

“Despite those two bad plays on defense, we played well,” saidHart. “Our offense didn’t do bad either, despite the wet and muddyconditions.”

The game was played throughout tropical downpours. Indian field,traditionally known for its five-inch deep cut grass, turned into ahuge puddle throughout the game. Inches of mud were spreadeverywhere after the game was over.

“The weather was nasty,” said Brown. “It was really wet andmuddy out there, but the kids played through it.”

Brown’s Indians forced Franklin County quarterback JasperO’Quinn to slow his role as a speed runner. Once O’Quinn was forcedto throw, the Indians blitzed him with eight down linemen. O’Quinnwas 0-for-6 in the air with two interceptions.

“Forcing them to throw was the key,” continued Brown. “O’Quinn’sa talented a player, a real quick runner. We had to stop him.”

Hazlehurst held Franklin’s 327-yards per game offense to a totalof 95 yards offensively. O’Quinn rushed for 66-yards on 21 carries,while senior running back Deandrea Cameron was held to 20 yards onnine carries.

“I think our defense proved a point,” said Brown. “They came inaveraging nearly 40-points a game and over 300-yards.”

The Indians were led on defense by senior linebacker Damien Garywith 10 tackles, one sack, and a fumble recovery. Junior cornerbackDeundrae Pendleton made seven tackles and caught an interception.Carroll issued five hits and deflected two passes. He also made aninterception.

For the Bulldogs, junior linebacker D.J. Shaw led with eighthits. Junior defensive back Marvin Bridges issued seven hits, adeflection, blocked a punt, and recovered a fumble. Bo Tillman, andDeAndre Davis each recorded six hits.

Offensively, Hazlehurst got 40 carries from Douglas for 85yards. Robinson finished with 15 yards on three attempts.