Hurst gets win 347 in blowout of Parklane

Southern Sports & Travel

Since he became the head football coach at Centreville Academy in 1975 Bill Hurst has enjoyed the fruits of his labors.  His Centreville teams have won eight state championships and he is the only MPSA/MAIS coach to win multiple titles in three different classes.

Now the 64 year old coaching legend is the winningest coach in Mississippi history after a dominating 36-17 win over Parklane Academy in McComb on Friday night.

Win number 347 eclipsed the mark held by Jim Drewry who coached at Booneville, Kossuth and Tishomingo from 1958-2009.

“It’s nothing I’ve done,” said Bill Hurst. “It’s been the kids that have played for me and just gave their hearts.”

Hurst, known for his hard nosed style of coaching, was greeted with hugs, handshakes and smiles from family, Centreville fans and current and former players following the game.

“It’s very special,” said Hurst. “It’s more special for the kids because they’ve worked so hard. I told them to play for themselves and everything else would take care of itself.”

Parklane had two obstacles to hurdle before the game had even started, the emotion they would surely face from a fired up Centreville squad and the poor outing the Tigers displayed in a week two embarrassing home loss to Trinity which helped redirect the focus of the Centreville players with some help from vintage Bill Hurst.

“Labor Day morning they (Centreville Tigers) met the seven man sled,” said Hurst. “They got a real introduction to football that morning.”

Since then Centreville has looked impressive with a 34-12 road win over upstart Adams Christian and Friday night’s thumping of Parklane.

“They’ve shown a lot of character and heart,” said Hurst.

At Charlie Newlon Field on Friday night Centreville took the opening kick-off and drove 60 yards to the Pioneer 18 yard line before stalling. Brock Andrus nailed a 35 yard field goal to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

Parklane would see their opening drive stall in a different manner as a Brady Lea pass was intercepted by Colby Shaw in the Centreville end-zone at the 5:15 mark of the opening quarter.

Centreville would capitalize on the turnover by producing an 80 yard, 14 play drive that chewed up 5:17 off the clock.

Junior quarterback Casey Haygood connected with Daniel Hollingsworth for a 37 yard gain to the Parklane 6 yard line on the tenth play of the drive and Haygood would cap the drive on the first play of the second quarter with a 1 yard plunge on 4^th down.

Brock Andrus converted on the PAT to give Centreville a 10-0 advantage with 11:58 left in the half.

Parklane’s offense couldn’t respond and it would lead to another Centreville score.

After taking in a Zack McDaniel punt, Centreville set up shop at its’ own 32 yard line and quarterback Casey Haygood was about to get hot.

Haygood would connect on 4/5 passes on the drive, the last a 13 yard hook-up with wide-out Colby Shaw (Above) for a score at the 6:32 mark to extend the lead to 17-0.

Parklane grabbed some much needed momentum on the ensuing possession.

A Quartez Brown 25 yard gain on a reverse moved the Pioneers into striking distance at the Centreville 15 yard line but the Tiger defense held Parklane to a 29 yard Zack McDaniel field goal with 1:05 left in the first half.

Parklane’s momentum didn’t last long.

Casey Haygood would direct Centreville with a textbook hurry-up offensive drive to close out the half.

Haygood hit Daniel Hollingsworth with a 29 yard gain to the Pioneer 47 yard line on first down and two plays later found Tyler Caston (Above) for another 24 yards to the Parklane 23.

Haygood then connected with Colby Shaw for 11 yards to the 12 yard line with 8 seconds left in the half.

After a Centreville timeout Haygood and Shaw would hook-up once again. This time on a perfectly thrown fade pass in the back corner of the Parklane end-zone to Shaw who grabbed the football just over the fingertips of the Parklane defender to finish off a masterful 76 yard, 5 play drive.

Brock Andrus would add the PAT and Centreville would head into intermission with a 24-3 cushion.

Parklane came out of halftime determined to get back into the football game.

Brady Lea’s 39 yard kick-off return set the tone as the Pioneers set up at their 44 yard line and moved to the Centreville 12 but the Tiger defense would hold their ground once again.

Facing a 4^th and 5 at the Centreville 7 yard line Brady Lea’s pass attempt into the end-zone was knocked down and that would be the proverbial nail in the coffin for the Pioneers as Centreville responded with a quick strike score to put the game out of reach.

Casey Haygood hit Colby Shaw with a short pass in the flat and Shaw found an opening in the Pioneer defense and sped 91 yards for a touchdown to cap a 3 play drive that took just 49 seconds to increase the lead to 30-3.

Parklane would hit pay-dirt at the 6:47 mark of the fourth quarter when Dan Gill ran in from 3 yards out but Centreville answered with a 55 yard drive that culminated on Ian Ball’s 6 yard touchdown run just over two minutes later.

Brady Lea would finish off the scoring on the night as the senior plowed in from 7 yards out with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Casey Haygood (Left) led the Centreville Tigers with 337 yards on 19/29 passing and 3 touchdowns. Haygood also rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown.

“Casey has all the makings of the best quarterback we’ve had,” said Bill Hurst.

Senior wide-out Colby Shaw had 8 receptions for 167 yards and 3 touchdowns and had an interception on defense.

“Colby is an outstanding athlete,” said Hurst. “The sky is the limit of what he can really do.”

Daniel Hollingsworth contributed with 4 receptions for 86 yards and Mark Curry picked up 29 yards on the ground for Centreville.

For Parklane, Dan Gill rushed for 86 yards on 14 carries and Jack Dumas had 4 receptions for 108 yards.

Following the game Parklane honored Coach Hurst at midfield.

With the win Centreville improves to 3-1 and moves on to district play next week as they travel to Ben’s Ford.

Parklane slips to 2-2 and will open their district play at Copiah.

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Post game with Centreville Head Coach Bill Hurst