The Stone County Tomcats bring an explosive offense to KingField Friday night and the high goal of spoiling Brookhaven’shomecoming celebration. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Pregame ceremonieshonoring the homecoming court and the 26 BHS seniors begin at6:10.

The Region 3-5A contest is critical for both teams as they battlefor a berth in the state playoffs. The Panthers (3-4, 1-3) arecoming off a 38-28 loss to unbeaten region power Picayune(7-0,3-0). The Tomcats (3-5, 2-2) are fresh from a 21-12 loss tounbeaten West Jones.

Ole Brook head coach Tucker Peavey watched his Panthers win a3-overtime thriller at Stone County in Wiggins last year. He saidthe Tomcats are solid on both sides of the football.

“Stone County is a good team,” said Peavey. “They have one of thetop players (Darion Arrington) in the state. Their quarterback(Clint Hatten) is a very good player.”

Arrington (6-1, 215, sr.), wearing jersey No. 10, has rushed 66times for 644 yards and scored 8 touchdowns this season. He’scaught 18 passes for 264 yards. A safety on defense, Arrington hasmade 94 tackles.

Hatten (6-1, 200, sr.) has made his presence felt on offense. He’scompleted 98 of 166 passes for 1,763 yards and 13 touchdowns. He’sthrown 9 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 617 yards, giving himnearly 2,400 yards total offense.

Peavey said the Tomcats are playing “a lot better on defense. Theyhave some big defensive linemen and a lot of good skillguys.”

Among Hatten’s favorite receivers are Lee Redeemer (5-10, 155, sr.)and Charmond Magee (5-7, 160, sr.). Redeemer has caught 14 passesfor 324 yards and 3 TDs. Magee had 27 catches for 448 yards and 4TDs.

Panthers Regrouping

Shredded for 305 rushing yards and 104 passing by Picayune’s MaroonTide, Brookhaven’s defensive unit has concentrated on making bettertackles in practice this week. Senior linebacker Shamonte Brooksled the BHS defense with 13 solo tackles, 7 assists and a passinterception. Jawaun Merchant and Jaboree Poole each had 7 tackles.Jacoby Cooper made 6 solo tackles Thevis Cooper 5.

On offense, the Panthers got 128 yards rushing and 2 TDs fromTravorius Showers. Quarterback Duwone Harris completed 11 of 20passes for 171 yards and 1 TD.

Right guard Tyler Collins on offense and Brooks on defense wererecognized as the team’s Players of the Week.

Peavey said his team couldn’t afford to be distracted by theweeklong homecoming celebration. “There’s a lot going on with ourhomecoming this week,” said Peavey, a 1980 graduate

The Panthers are battling for third or fourth in the region race.”The only way we can control our own destiny is to win the rest of(games),” Peavey pointed out.