Football Game Preview: Forest Bearcats vs. Poplarville Hornets + Official Tickets

The Forest Bearcats will face off against the Poplarville Hornets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Forest will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.

Forest is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They came out on top against Choctaw Central by a score of 18-7.

Gregory Keeton

Total Tackles

11/07/25 vs Choctaw Central	9
10/30/25 vs Morton	7
10/24/25 @ Richland	13
10/17/25 @ Raymond	5
10/10/25 @ Raleigh	12
+ 3 more games

On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Forest's defense and their five sacks. In that department, Gregory Keeton was the leader with two. He has been hot, having also posted five or more total tackles the last eight times he's played. Xavion Kincaid got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Poplarville took their matchup on Friday with ease, bagging a 49-20 win over Forrest County Agricultural. The Hornets haven't had any issues with the Aggies recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive victory against them.

Forest better keep an eye on Tylan Keys. He was instrumental in Poplarville's win, rushing for 287 yards and four TDs while picking up 13.0 yards per carry. That's the most rushing touchdowns Keys has posted since back in September.

Poplarville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 465 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

Poplarville didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jt Graham and Trac Smith.

Forest's win bumped their record up to 9-2. As for Poplarville, their victory bumped their record up to 6-4.

Forest couldn't quite finish off Poplarville in their previous matchup back in November of 2024 and fell 24-21. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Keys, who rushed for 159 yards and a pair of scores. Now that the Bearcats know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.