Former Warren Central standouts meet when Hinds battles Gulf Coast tonight.

RAYMOND – Otis Stamps has known Larry Warner since the pair first shared a uniform with the Warren Central JV team in 9th grade.

Tonight at May Stadium in Perkinston, Stamps and Warner will be in opposite uniforms. Stamps will line up for visiting Hinds Community College Eagles as a defensive back while Warner will be in the blue and gold of Mississippi Gulf Coast as the starting running back.

Hinds did not protect Warner after a standout career at Warren Central.

&#8220I feel like that happened for a reason,” Warner said. &#8220That gave me a chance to come here and prove myself. I feel like it was a blessing in disguise.”

Last year, Warner and the Bulldogs played their annual MACJC South Division game against Hinds here at Renfroe Stadium. Stamps, however, did not get to play.

&#8220I had to sit out that game last year because of an ACL tear in my knee. I wound up missing the year,” Stamps said after last week’s 14-10 win over Northeast.

&#8220I didn’t get a chance to mistreat him some, but this time, I hope to get a hold of him. I know we have to be ready for him because he’s going to be coming after us,” Stamps said.

Warner has been going after several folks this season. He enters the fourth game as the ninth leading rusher in the nation at 129.7 yards per game.

In a week one 65-0 thrashing of Holmes Community College, Warner ran for 177 yards and a touchdown. The next week against Northeast, Warner ran for 106 yards and scored two touchdowns in another Bulldog win.

&#8220We’re explosive,” Warner said. &#8220It feels good. We have a great defense, but coming into the season, no one was expecting our offense to do anything. It’s coming together piece by piece. It’s a belief in our system and each other.”

Against defending state champion Pearl River, Warner had 97 yards through three quarters before twisting his ankle. He still managed to get back over the 100-yard mark for the third straight game at 106, but Pearl River held on for the 36-22 win.

But the injury still had an affect.

&#8220Having Larry get that twisted ankle affected us because we were making a comeback against Pearl River,” Gulf Coast coach Steve Campbell told the Sun Herald after the game.

The ankle injury is nothing new for Warner. In his senior season at WC, a year where he was named the Vicksburg Post’s Offensive Player of the Year, he suffered an ankle sprain in a postseason loss against Tupelo.

Stamps, though, expects Warner to play tonight.

&#8220Larry has got heart. I’ve known him since the ninth grade. Even though we’re at different colleges, we’re even closer as friends right now. We talk at least once a week,” Stamps said.

Stamps is coming off a good outing himself. He helped Hinds in the Northeast win by making a second half interception and then followed it up with a key tackle for a loss on the Tigers’ final possession of the game.

&#8220Normally, I play more 1-on-1 with the receivers but on the interception but that time I was staying back. I was just in the right position to make a play,” he said.