When Cliff Furr is Talking Ball, Y’all with a new column it’s always presented by our partners at Toyota of Brookhaven.

This fan of all things athletics in Southwest Mississippi is hoping that a couple of our local soccer programs earn some historical wins over the next few days.

On Saturday, Loyd Star will host Sacred Heart out of Hattiesburg in a pair of MHSAA Class I playoff matches.

On Tuesday (February 10), the Brookhaven High Panthers will head east down Highway 84 to take on Northeast Jones in two MHSAA 5A playoff pairings.

Hornets looking to win one for the public schools

For Loyd Star and head coach Jordan Lea, it’s a first-round matchup against one of the boogeymen of Class I soccer as Sacred Heart Catholic is a parochial school, the type of programs that have long ruled over Class I.

Class I incorporates all the soccer playing programs from the traditional 1A, 2A, and 3A classes.

So, that makes winning a championship at this level all the tougher.

 The difficulty is further dialed up by having programs like Sacred Heart, St. Andrew’s Episcopal, Our Lady Academy, St. Patrick Catholic, and Saint Stanislaus in Class I.

You can hate that these private schools play in the same division with public schools like Loyd Star, but in the words of the street poet Tupac, that’s just the way it is.

Former Franklin County coach Jeff Long used to beat the unfairness drum every year when his Bulldogs would run into one of these programs in the playoffs, but the MHSAA isn’t going to create a division or championship for these schools and they’re not going to boot them either, as Saint Andrew’s is considered one of the premier high schools in the Magnolia State.

They’re also not going to make them play up, as the 4A schools don’t want to face them either.

The Southeastern Lauderdale boys in 2015. That’s the answer to the trivia question below.

When was the last time for a non-parochial school to win a Class I soccer championship in Mississippi?

That’s only happened one other time in the boys’ bracket and a non-private schools has never won a Class I title in the 26 years since the division was created in the girls’ bracket.

Loyd Star soccer has been on a great run over the past few seasons, and they often clash with one of these traditional powers at some point, just not usually in the first round.

The Loyd Star girls are 18-3 overall and won Region 7-Class with a 10-0 division record. Sacred Heart went 4-6 in their region and are 9-12 overall.

The Crusaders are still pretty good though, as their region includes St. Patrick, OLA, and a private school that’s new to the MHSAA this year, Presbyterian Chrisitan.

The Loyd Star guys are 15-4-1 overall and winners of their division and like their girls’ team, Sacred Heart (10-10-1) finished fourth in their region behind their fellow private schools.

Why not you, Hornets?

Why not now?

Why not let this be the year that you do something few public schools have ever done and beat one of these soccer blue bloods in the postseason?

St. Patrick, 4-1 in 2025. St. Patrick, 4-0 in 2024. Sacred Heart, 7-0 in 2023.

Those are the losses that eliminated the LS boys’ team over the past three seasons.

St. Patrick, 8-0 in 2025. Sacred Heart, 6-1 in 2024. St. Patrick 6-0 in 2023, OLA 6-0 in 2022.

Those are the losses that eliminated the LS girls’ team over the prior four seasons.

“For our girls’ to win, we’ve got to keep track of their best player at all times,” said Lea when giving a scouting report this week.

That’s usually easier said than done. Not long ago, the best player for SH was Gracie Falla. Falla was twice named SEC Defender of the Year at South Carolina and is considered one of the best young soccer players in the national team’s developmental system.

Emma King, Adi Holcomb, Samantha Reed, and Maya Wyant make up the core leaders that Lea will rely on to follow the game plan on Saturday.

The guys from Loyd Star have a trio of community college signees in Cooper Creel (Southwest Mississippi), Kaleb Waldrop (East Mississippi), and Jamisyn Kelly (East Mississippi). Those guys along with fellow seniors Casen Easterling, Dawson White, and Brody Thibodeaux have played tons of soccer together over the years as Hornets.

Their head coach isn’t ready to see them go just yet.

“Sacred Heart moves the ball very quickly, we’ve got to match them mentally as well as physically,” said Lea.

Kickoff of the girls’ match is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Loyd Star, with the boys’ match to follow at 4 p.m.

Panthers want a historic win

If any of what I’m about to say is wrong, please don’t yell at me.

Rather, I’d prefer a message setting me straight.

This is Year 40 of soccer being offered as a varsity sport at Brookhaven High.

I was a child when they started kicking the ball around at Ole Brook in 1986.

It’s been said by a few that know better than me that the BHS soccer programs, both the guys and the girls, have never won a playoff soccer match.

Not when Coach Rob McCreary was growing the boys’ soccer program or when Kevin Bower had the Hoover sisters, two of the best soccer players to ever lace up cleats in Lincoln County.

Let’s change that on Tuesday night, Panthers.

The Lady Panthers are 12-6 overall. They lost 6-0 to their region opponent South Jones when the squads first played.

BHS lost the second matchup 4-3, showing improvement as they came in third in Region 3-5A behind Sumrall (20-4-1) and SJ (13-6-1).

There is only one senior on the roster for head soccer coach Dustin Bairfield in Hailey Breazeale.

The roster is stocked with a big junior class, many who started playing varsity while still in junior high.

Eliza Smith, Isabella Iles, Hanna Thibodeaux, Kenslie Bairfield, Lucy Williams, Kylee Lopez, Maddie Henning.

They’re a group ready to take BHS soccer to a place its never been, the second round of the MHSAA 5A playoffs.

Northeast Jones is 10-9-2 and has played a tough schedule, losing 2-1 to South Jones in the regular season.

“I feel the key to our success is going to be keeping our formation and staying focused,” said Bairfield. “Hopefully we can make school history by getting out of the first round.”

It’s a similar story on the boys’ side of things for Ole Brook soccer.

Coach Aaron Ayers has a club that’s 9-9-2. Northeast Jones is 12-4-1. 

Crews Stewart, Jak Gonzalez and Guillermo Garcia make up the senior class for the Panthers.

Elijah Kilpatrick, Karr Wolfe, Baylor Birster, Braxton Bradley, Ian Iles, Isaac Iles, James Belk, and Jackson Greer make up the junior contingent.

“We ned to play solid defense and put pressure on them early when they have the ball,” said Ayers. “It’s going to be a physical game against a good opponent.”

The girls’ match at NEJ is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. for Brookhaven High, with the boy’s contest to follow.

Two matches for Loyd Star on Saturday. Two more for BHS on Tuesday.

Four chances to do something that you’ve never done before.

Four shots at glory.

Let’s go Hornets. Let’s go Panthers.

Y’all Sports is pulling for you.