POPLARVILLE, Miss. (WLOX) – The Poplarville Hornets are the epitome of consistency. They have made it to the South State region in seven of the last eight seasons and long playoff success has become the norm for the Hornets.

“You have to give our kids a lot of credit. They’ve put in a lot of hard work from January to now,” said head coach Jay Beech. “They’ve bought into what we’re trying to do and what we’re doing and our physicality on offense and defense. It’s kind of become a tradition. The younger kids coming through the program don’t want to let the community down, they don’t want to be the ones who don’t make it as far as the others.”

Beech is entering his eleventh year with the Hornets and knows from the last decade what it takes to get the best out of his guys.

“We’re really motivated, myself and our coaching staff,” he said. “We want to give every kid that comes to football the best experience possible. They sign up to win. They didn’t just sign up to be here. We’re going to teach them a lot of good character traits as they go along, but we’re also here to win, and that’s what they signed up for.”

With a strong graduating class this year and a number of returning players, the Hornets hope to maintain the same intensity that has taken them deep into the postseason, and senior safety Jason Smith says the entire team is ready to take on the challenge.

“I feel like everyone wants to win,” Smith said. “Everyone puts in the extra work when they can and does what they need to do to make sure everyone is successful.”

Senior guard Rhett McCardle says he has embraced his leadership role as a senior and knows that if everyone isn’t pulling together, things can fall apart before the snap.

“That’s the most important thing,” McCardle said. “We all have to be a team, we have to stick together as a unit, otherwise we’re not going to win many games. That’s probably the most important thing this year.”

The Hornets are ready to head into 2024 and continue the hard work and dedication that has brought them this far each year. As a graduating class, the Hornets are heading into 2024 full throttle.

“Our work ethic, our coaching, everything comes together,” Smith said.

“I’ve never seen a team in Poplarville so united. We all want one goal,” McCardle added. “I think if we all stick together and are a good team, we can do it and have that ring on our finger at the end of the year.”

Poplarville opens the season with an away game against Jefferson Davis County.

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