Gulf Live: And then there was one - Ocean Springs the only coast school left standing

Originally published November 12, 2021

For a few fleeting moments, the visiting Pearl Pirates rattled the cage of the undefeated Ocean Springs Greyhounds as the two kicked off their opening round Class 6A playoff game Friday night.

On the second play from scrimmage, Pirate quarterback Jerry Johnson executed a perfect option play, ultimately keeping the ball and racing through a huge hole in the middle of the Ocean Springs defense, pulling away from defenders with each step en route to a 79-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 37 seconds into the game.

And he would do it again, too -- twice, in fact -- once on a 69-yard run early in the second quarter and then on a 41-yard run midway though the final quarter.

In between Johnson’s highlight-reel runs, however, it was all Ocean Springs, as the #1 seed from Region 4 easily dispatched the #4 seed out of Region 3, 54-28, to advance to a Class 6A second round matchup with Oak Grove next Friday.

In doing so, the Greyhounds salvaged some measure of pride for Region 4 and the Mississippi coast as a whole. Every other coast team in the playoffs Friday night lost, including all three of the other Region 4-6A teams. Only the Greyhounds’ win kept the coast’s 6A schools from another across the board one-and-done.

Johnson’s touchdown sprint clearly shocked the Greyhound Stadium crowd, but any concern was quickly eased when quarterback Bray Hubbard raced 59 yards for a long touchdown of his own to tie the game at 7-7 before two minutes had gone off the game clock.

From there, the two squads seemed to settle in before another exchange of scores early in the second quarter, with Ocean Springs taking the lead on a 23-yard pass from Hubbard to J.P Coulter, followed by Johnson’s 69-yard TD gallop to once again tie it.

At that point, it appeared those watching might be in for a classic affair between two high-powered offenses.

Then Ocean Springs scored four unanswered touchdowns to spoil the fun, taking a 41-14 lead by the midway point of the third quarter. The four scores came courtesy a 4-yard run by Coulter, a 31-yard run by Hubbard, a 19-yard pass from Hubbard to Holton White, and an 8-yard pass from Hubbard to David Humphries.

With their 1,500-yard rusher -- 6-2, 230-pound Jamari Thompson -- nursing multiple injuries and only a shell of himself, the Pirates leaned heavily on Johnson, who has offers from all three of Mississippi’s D-1 schools.

Johnson performed well, rushing 17 times for 235 yards and three touchdowns, and throwing for another score, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep pace with Ocean Springs’ more balanced and multi-faceted attack, particularly given the Pirates’ difficulty in hanging onto the football. Pearl fumbled the ball five times, losing two. Ocean Springs cashed in both turnovers for touchdowns.

While the Greyhound offense once again centered around Hubbard, who accounted for 334 yards and six touchdowns, he spread the ball around, tossing touchdown passes to four different receivers.

Coulter also had an outstanding performance, catching five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, while adding 37 yards and a TD on the ground. Evan McNally added five catches for 98 yards and a score.

The total offense numbers weren’t nearly as lopsided as the score, with Ocean Springs amassing 436 yards to Pearl’s 394.

Ocean Springs (11-0) now turns its attention to Oak Grove, which will visit Greyhound Stadium next Friday after routing Gulfport 33-7. In 2004, when the Greyhounds made their only appearance in the state title game, they defeated the Warriors at Greyhound Stadium.

Since then, however, they’ve lost five straight to Oak Grove in the postseason, including a 42-14 loss in 2019. The winner of next Friday’s game will face the winner of the Brandon v. Warren Central contest in the South State championship.