"Little Brown Jug"
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Hattiesburg and Laurel have a strong rivalry when it comes to high school football and the stakes will be high Saturday as both teams will battle for the “Little Brown Jug.”
Laurel head coach, Todd Breland said, "We cherish it and they cherish it and we've gone back-and-forth with it. They have it right now and we want it back in Laurel. We've always played Hattiesburg and forever will. And it's always a great, great contest."
Hattiesburg head coach, Tony Vance said, "Laurel is going to be Laurel man. Talented as always. Great group of guys, great group of athletes that's well coached. It's the 'Little Brown Jug' game so you know they're going to bring their A-game."
Laurel shut out Quitman, 31-0. And Hattiesburg loss 56-42 to Petal last week.
"A very good team got beat by another very good team. And they're tremendously athletic. Probably the most athletic team we'll play all year,” said Breland.
"A lot of mistakes, a lot of missed assignments on offense. Defensively, obviously we've got to tackle better. We've got to play better, and we've got to do a better job executing our assignments," said Vance.
Hattiesburg won the last two meetings against Laurel.
But, the Golden Tornadoes want the Jug back.
Laurel linebacker, Zaquevis Haynes said, "It's my senior year. I ain't never had the Brown Jug and I really want it real bad."
"I'm locking my man down. It's going to be a real good game. I've been waiting to play this game all summer," said Laurel strong safety, Jalon Thigpen.
Both Haynes and Thigpen said they're tired of hearing Hattiesburg talk trash.
But the Tigers are prepared to not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk as well.
Hattiesburg quarterback, Julian Conner said, "It's going to feel amazing because I've been starting for those three years and this will be my third year starting. We will all see how much big of a talking it is."
"Yeah we're going to keep the Jug. But Saturday night, it's going to tell it all. We're going to leave it all out on the field," said Hattiesburg running back, Fabian Franklin.
The game will begin Saturday at 7 p.m. at Hattiesburg High.
