Poplarville defeated St. Stanislaus 42-31 in the second round of the class 4A state playoffs.

Rock-a-chaws quarterback Jakob Greer scrambled but Poplarville’s Amari Harmon caused Greed to fumble the ball. With the ball loose, Peytan Graham recovered the ball around their own 45-yard line and ran all the way to the endzone for the Hornets only defensive touchdown of the night. Heading into halftime, the Hornets held a 21-7 lead.

“We needed something good to happen to us in the first half, it was a struggle,” Poplarville Head Coach Jay Beech said. “You had a sack, fumble, scoop and score and it doesn’t get any better than that momentum wise. Defense gave us a big boost in the first half.

Austin Bolton and Cory Knight finished the night with each rushing over 100 yards for Poplarville. Knight had three touchdowns and Bolton had one. Kicker Ethan Spiers finished the night with a perfect 6-for-6 on PATs.

In the Hornets first possession of the second half, Bolton ran a five-yard touchdown to finish a drive that took almost nine minutes of the play clock.

St. Stanislaus quickly responded with a touchdown of their own two minutes later. Kicker Beau Rimer missed the extra point and the Hornets led 28-13 with 1:56 left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Knight rushed for an 11-yard touchdown, his second of the night for the Hornets.

Three plays later, Greer rushed for a 21-yard touchdown but failed to complete the two-point conversion.

Cory Knight scored the last touchdown of the game for the Hornets with a one-yard run with 4:18 left in the game.

The Rock-a-Chaws took possession of the ball at their own 37-yard line and Cahill Marlowe found a hole in the offensive line and ran for a 55-yard gain. One play later, J.D. Rutherford scored another touchdown for the St. Stanislaus off a 13-yard pass from Greer. The Hornets defense stopped St. Stanislaus once again and prevented them from coverting the two-point conversion.

With the game coming to an end, Greer scored the last touchdown of the game for St. Stanislaus.

The Rock-a-Chaws jumped to an early lead when Greer ran past the Hornets defense and put his team up by seven points after a 54-yard run.

The Hornets started their drive on their own 32-yard line and looked to tie the game. Facing a fourth down, Roosevelt Raine ran for a 19-yard gain, which put Poplarville in a first-and-goal situation on the opponent’s six-yard line.

After allowing a five-yard gain, St. Stanislaus stopped the Hornets twice on their own one-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-goal, Graham scored the first touchdown of the game for Poplarville and tied the game at 7-all with 3:26 remaining in the first quarter.

After a hot start by both teams offense’s, the defense for both Poplarville and St. Stanislaus stepped as in the next five drives, four of them ended in punts and the other ended in a fail fourth-down conversion.

Halfway through the second quarter, Knight scored his first of three touchdowns of the night after a seven-yard run. The score by Knight gave the Hornets their first lead of the game.

“You had two teams out there that were fighting and survive one more week and it was a tough one,” Beech said. “We did enough to win. We had to grind it out and we have some really long drives in the second half.”

With the victory, the Hornets will move on to the state quarterfinals in Class 4A.