by Anthony VanCourt, Contributing Writer

A pair of familiar foes and division rivals squared off in tonight’s 5A South State Championship game when the Long Beach Bearcats welcomed the Pearl River Central Blue Devils into Lumpkin-Magee Stadium.  The Bearcats won 4-0, earned their sixth straight MHSAA 5A South State Championship, and berth in the State Finals, Saturday, February 4, 2023.

In the previous two meetings this season the Bearcats defeated the Blue Devils 3-0 and 2-1.

Despite those victories, many people will tell you that it’s tough to beat a team three times in a single season, but that is exactly what the Bearcats did on a foggy Tuesday night scoring four first half goals to quiet the Pearl River Central crowd early in the contest.

With the first half barely underway, the Bearcats would score their first goal of the night only 9 minutes after the opening whistle when Long Beach’s Landon VanCourt (Jr.) took a pass from Alexander Mink (Jr.) and buried his shot from outside the Blue Devil penalty area into the bottom right corner giving the Bearcats an early 1-0 lead.

Long Beach would continue to control the game with some well-worked passing combinations and a high energy attack going forward.

With 17:30 left in the first half, the Bearcats extended the lead when a Long Beach freekick found VanCourt on the back post who’s header on goal was deflected by the Blue Devil keeper only for it to fall into the path of Easton van Norden who finished the chance giving Long Beach a two-goal advantage.

The Bearcats took in full control of the half, where Long Beach senior forward Dylan Kippes was able to find the back of the Blue Devil net giving the Bearcats a convincing 3-0 advantage with 9:23 left to play in the first half.

However, the Bearcats would find the net once more as Ethan LaBorde picked up the ball just outside the Blue Devil penalty area and pushed beyond the defender before sending a cross into the danger area finding Easton van Norden for the 4th Bearcat goal just before halftime.

With a four-goal first half behind them, the second half would see the Bearcats maintain the majority of possession but were unable to find the final pass to break down the Blue Devils once more.

The Bearcats had several chances denied by the Blue Devil goalkeeper who made some spectacular saves.

The second half finished with neither team adding to the score and the game finishing 4-0 to the Bearcats.

The win sends Long Beach to their sixth straight 5A State Championship game in row with the last two seeing the Bearcats lift the “golden ball” as the state champions in 2021 and 2022.

Awaiting the Bearcats will be the Lafayette County Commodores who defeated Saltillo in a penalty shootout on Monday night.

The 5A State Championship game will be played on Saturday, 6:00pm at Brandon High School.