Sun Herald: Ocean Springs football wins again. Is a perfect season on the way?
Originally published October 30, 2021
The Bray Hubbard Show just keeps rolling along, and it just might roll all the way to Jackson in December.
Ocean Springs roared out to a fast start, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions as the Greyhounds coasted past Gulfport 46-14 Friday night at Milner Stadium.
The victory, coupled with Harrison Central’s loss at D’Iberville, clinched at least a tie for the Region 4-6A championship for the undefeated Greyhounds (9-0 overall, 6-0 region), who will enter the Class 6A playoffs in two weeks as the region’s No. 1 seed.
“I don’t think we’ve peaked,” said Hubbard, the junior quarterback who is having a sensational season for Ocean Springs. “We’ve still got a lot of room to work. We’re still getting there.”
If that’s the case, championship contenders should beware, because the Hounds looked the part of a title team in dismissing the Admirals.
Gulfport (6-4, 4-2) will also be playoff bound, but the Admirals will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs as either the third or fourth seed, and they’ll likely be without star running back Tyler Reed, who suffered a left leg injury in the second quarter and did not return.
“He’s got a high ankle sprain,” said Gulfport coach John Archie. “We won’t know how serious it is until we talk to the doctor. But it doesn’t look good.”
This was the first time since 2014 that the Greyhounds have won the region title, and head coach Blake Pennock has his team clearly thinking about adding a state championship.
“It’s awesome,” said Pennock. “Winning the region is, obviously, a goal we set for ourselves at the beginning of every season. That’s the easiest avenue to get to Jackson and win a state title.”
As has become the norm for Ocean Springs, the Greyhounds put Gulfport on its heels right from the start.
“The thing we want to do is get people on their heels early,” Pennock said. “We did a great job of executing the run, especially inside the tackle box. We’ve got some guys with some size up there and a lot of guys who can make plays.”
After the Admirals were stopped after gaining one first down, Hubbard went to work, starting at the Hounds’ 30-yard-line.
A 12-yard run on a jet sweep by junior J.P. Coulter got the Greyhounds into Gulfport territory and established a play that the Admirals never stopped, so much so that Coulter finished as the team’s leading rusher with 118 yards on just five carries.
On third-and-5 from the 15, Hubbard swept right tackle, faked a defender and cut inside to run untouched to the end zone for the first score of the game.
“I’ve got my play makers,” Hubbard said. “They have a big hand in any success I have. I get the ball wide to them and they make plays. Our offensive line has been playing great. If I get a good hold, I hit the corner and once I’m gone, I turn on the second gear and get going.”
That speed was on display after Gulfport went nowhere on its second possession, and the Greyhounds resumed their assault, this time marching 78 yards on seven plays. Hubbard got the score on a 58-yard dash, featuring another splendid move on a defender.
“The versatility is probably the craziest thing about (Hubbard),” said senior tackle Tyler Adair. “He can chuck it long downfield and it’s on the money, then he’ll be able to scramble and be the fastest dude on the field.”
Another three-and-out gave Ocean Springs the ball at midfield, and the Greyhounds needed just three plays to go the distance. Coulter took a jet sweep around left end for a 33-yard gain, then Hubbard hit junior Holton White for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
“We were able to work the perimeter and get some other guys involved in the offense,” said Pennock. “We were able to roll after that.”
Disaster followed for Gulfport as the Admirals lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and the Greyhounds cashed in the turnover for a four-play, 14-yard, with Humphries scoring from 2 yards out.
The Admirals also lost a fumble that stopped a promising drive later in the first half, and the Greyhounds made life miserable for Admirals junior quarterback Jacob Palazzo. Ocean Springs sacked Palazzo four times for 23 yards in losses.
“We got behind the sticks and never got going offensively,” said Archie. “They just got the jump on us and kept on going, and we never had an answer for them.
“They had a good game plan for us. They’re a great football team. They’re good at what they do and they play hard the whole game.”
Palazzo did hook up with junior Tavaris Henshaw in the third quarter for a 41-yard touchdown pass, and he finished 13 of 20 for 137 yards.
“It’s been a long journey, really all year, getting the defense together,” said junior defensive end Keshawn Thomas. “We feel like we’ve got one of the best defenses in the state of Mississippi.
“We knew they had a pretty good run game, so we felt like we could take that away and concentrate on the throwing game.”
While the defense has been coming on, though, it was still the offense that got the rave reviews. Ocean Springs finished with 329 rushing yards, as Hubbard had 114 yards on 12 carries and Humphries added 78 yards on 13 rushes.
After Gulfport’s first touchdown, Hubbard drove the Greyhounds 59 yards on 10 plays, getting the score on a 12-yard pass to senior tight end Evan McNally, and he added a third TD pass early in the fourth quarter on a 18-yard pass to White.
Gulfport added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 24-yard run by De’Shawn Adkins, and the Greyhounds were gifted a safety in the final seconds of the game when the Admirals lost a backward pass through the end zone.
The Admirals can clinch the third seed in the region next week with a victory at home against Biloxi.
Although the first goal is complete, Pennock told his team he wants to keep the goose egg in the loss column. And Ocean Springs can finish a perfect regular season next week at Harrison Central.
“Undefeated seasons are a rare thing, and you should embrace the opportunity,” Pennock said. “Everybody says a Coast team can’t win a state championship, and I think we’re ready to prove some folks wrong.”
