A year ago this month, Bruce was 5–0. Then it lost all four of its region games, winning only a non-region game when it beat Palmer 30–28 last October. Bruce's 2025 season, which started like this one, ended at 6–4 with no playoff game.
This year Bruce is 8–0. Bruce is 2–0 in Region 2-2A this season. On Thursday night it plays at Myrtle, and Myrtle is 3–0 in Region 2-2A this season. In 2025, Myrtle won that game 36–20, in Bruce.
So Bruce carries last fall's question into this week: can it finish?
The town
Bruce sits in north-central Calhoun County, where Highway 9 crosses Highway 32. It counted 1,707 people at the 2020 census. The town carries the name of E. L. Bruce, whose Memphis lumber company bought most of the timberland around it in 1925. The company built the Skuna Valley Railroad and opened a hardwood sawmill, and the town grew up around the mill. Weyerhaeuser runs a pine sawmill there now, at the edge of downtown, and the town still throws a Sawmill Festival.
Football has had its years here. Bruce won the Class 2A state title in 1996, and that team was recognized this September. Armegis Spearman went from Bruce to linebacker at Ole Miss, and on to the NFL.
The coach
Chuck Darbonne is in his fourth season as head coach. In the three seasons before he arrived, Bruce won three games out of 26. In 2023, his first season, Bruce went 6–5 and made the playoffs.
Both ways
Bruce lists 38 players on its roster, and five of them are seniors. Two of its best players work on both sides of the ball.
Jermaine Jackson, a junior receiver and cornerback, has scored 11 touchdowns. He also has three interceptions. Cayden Jones, a senior tight end and strong safety, has caught 11 touchdown passes. He has three interceptions too.
Joshua Long, a senior quarterback, has thrown 22 touchdown passes. Tylan Eacholes, a senior middle linebacker, leads the team in tackles per game.
The numbers
Bruce has scored at least 33 points in every game. Four of its eight opponents have scored 6 points or fewer.
It has beaten our projection in seven of eight games. Three of the wins came as the underdog: at South Pontotoc, at J Z George, and at Water Valley, in overtime. The one game below the number was Coffeeville, which came within two points, 34–32.
The Press Coverage Power Index (PCPI) weighs margins and schedule. After Week 8, it rates Bruce 19th of 39 in 2A. By résumé, who a team has beaten and where, Bruce ranks 7th in 2A after Week 8. Myrtle rates 17th by the PCPI after Week 8.
Thursday
The game is on Thursday this week, a night early. After Week 8, the PCPI has Myrtle by 5, a 63% chance. Myrtle has won its last five games.
The two teams have played three of the same opponents this season:
Vardaman: Bruce won 42–0. Myrtle won 57–13.
East Union: Bruce won 40–0 there. Myrtle won 41–14 there.
Water Valley: Bruce won 34–26 in overtime, on the road. Myrtle won 24–18 at home.
Water Valley is the one that pushed both of them.
Last fall, Bruce went through its region schedule without a win. This October it goes to Myrtle with two region wins already in hand.
Notes
- How the numbers work: the Press Coverage Power Index (PCPI) rates every Mississippi team from its margins and schedule, and our projection for each game comes from those ratings. The résumé ranking counts who a team has beaten and where. Ratings and ranks are after Week 8 and don't move after that.
- Roster and player figures: Bruce's MaxPreps pages, as of Oct. 17. Coach: WCBI ("HSFT Stop #20: Bruce", July 13, 2026). Town and mill history: Weyerhaeuser. Population: the 2020 U.S. Census. The 1996 team's recognition: the Calhoun County Journal.