By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
JACKSON – One play. One roll of the dice, win or lose, with a state championship in the balance. No tomorrow.
That was the choice Oak Grove head coach Drew Causey made with seven seconds remaining in the Class 6A state championship game at the Blue Cross/ Blue Shield Gridiron Classic at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
One play, a two-point conversion after the Warriors beat the clock with an 80-yard touchdown drive in the final four minutes of the game to pull within one point of Oxford.
And the gamble paid off for Oak Grove, as junior quarterback Kabe Barnett found senior tight end Trayvon Moore in the left side of the end zone to give the Warriors a stunning 29-28 victory.
The victory completed a remarkable season for Oak Grove, as the Warriors finished 13-0 and won their second state championship. Oxford (12-1), the defending 6A champs, saw its 25-game winning streak come to an end.
“We made the decision when we got the ball on that last drive that if we scored, we were going for two,” said Causey. “Going to overtime never entered my mind.”
It was a fitting end to a clash between the two best teams in the state, as Oak Grove and the Chargers took turns hitting the other with big plays, often forcing big mistakes that were critical on both sides.
“That last drive, I was so determined to put the ball in the end zone,” said Barnett, whose two rushing touchdowns more than made up for two lost fumbles in the third quarter, the second of which helped Oxford take the lead for the first time.
It was Barnett’s second touchdown that set up the Warriors’ winning gamble, a 10-yard scamper on fourth down to cap a 12-play drive that was the stuff of legend.
But it wouldn’t have happened without a game-changing play on defense, a 16-yard pick-six by sophomore Jaylen Aborom midway through the fourth quarter.
“They’d been running the same play (a wideout screen pass) all game,” said Aborom, who had two interceptions last week in the South State championship game against Northwest Rankin. “I saw how they lined up and I was able to capitalize on it.”
At the beginning, it looked like Oak Grove would roll right through the Chargers.
After the defense got a quick three-and-out to open the game, Barnett hit consecutive passes of 17 yards to junior Tyrell Pollard and 36 yards to senior Jordan Coleman to set up an 8-yard scoring run by senior Courtland Harris.
But Oxford found its rhythm late in the first quarter, as junior quarterback Michael Harvey connected on two 27-yard completions to senior D.K. Johnson to get the Chargers in position for a 16-yard TD pass from Harvey to senior Kortlen Wilfawn.
Oak Grove answered right back with an 80-yard, 11-play drive, scoring on Barnett’s 8-yard run, but Oxford responded late in the second quarter with an eight-play, 74-yard touchdown drive, with junior Omar Howell scoring on a 6-yard run.
The Warriors had some momentum coming out of the locker room for the second half, driving to the Oxford 35-yard-line with the opening kickoff of the second half. However, Barnett lost the ball to stop the drive.
The defense got the ball back when junior Quinten Sterling came up with a Charger fumble at the Warrior 38, but two plays later, Barnett was stripped along the sideline, and this time Oxford made Oak Grove pay.
Harvey converted a fourth-and-5 from the Oak Grove 35 with a 29-yard completion to senior tight end Trynten Brannon to set up an 11-yard scoring pass to Johnson, who finished with 110 yards on just six receptions.
“We ran a lot of man-to-man, so it was hard when they ran some double-routes,” said Aborom. “We had to make some adjustments.”
Oxford was in position to put a stranglehold on the game early in the fourth quarter leading 21-14. The Chargers drove as far as the Oak Grove 18, but on fourth-and-1, Howell was stopped literally an inch short of the first down.
“Our defense, when we needed a stop, they stepped up,” said Causey. “They did an incredible job on a fourth and less than one, and that ignited us. Then, of course, Jaylen Aborom with the pick-six to really get it kick-started for us.”
But Oxford wasn’t finished after Aborom tied it up with his interception touchdown.
Harvey drove the Chargers on a brisk five-play, 64-yard drive. Harvey completed a 34-yard pass to senior Jalen Wells, then Howell ran for 17 yards before senior tight end Alec Vaughn got over an Oak Grove defender on a 13-yard touchdown pass.
Starting at the 20 after the kickoff, Barnett converted a first down on a 16-yard pass to Coleman, then connected on a pass to the right side to Fairley, who broke a tackle and dashed to the Oxford 29 for a 24-yard pickup.
Barnett also found Fairley for a third-and-5 conversion on a 6-yard pass to the Charger 18. Pollard ran over right tackle out of the wildcat formation for 8 yards, but Barnett’s next two passes missed, setting up a fourth down.
Barnett scrambled over the right side, and just got the ball past the pylon for the touchdown, and Causey never even looked at kicking. After each team took time outs to plan strategy, Barnett stepped to his left and found Moore open for the winning points.
“I hadn’t had any catches the whole game,” said Moore. “But when the team put it on the line, I knew I had to make a play.
“We had tried that play earlier in the game and it really didn’t work. But I learned that if I faked the block, then the safety wouldn’t be watching for me and I could get open.”
After coming up agonizingly short in the state championships the past two seasons, winning it in such dramatic fashion was mighty sweet for Causey.
“I’ll be honest, I was standing there about the fourth quarter, and I said, ‘God, if it’s meant to be, then let something good happen for us,’” Causey said. “And it did. So, if anybody says prayer doesn’t work, they’re wrong.”
GAME SUMMARY
Class 6A State Championship
Friday at Jackson
Oak Grove 29, Oxford 28
OG 7 7 0 15 – 29
Oxford 7 7 7 7 – 28
First Quarter
OG – Courtland Harris 8 run (Michael Owens kick), 9:40 (4 plays/61 yards/1:06 possession).
OX – Michael Harvey 16 pass to Kortlen Wilfawn (Jack Tannehill kick), 1:33 (8/89/3:17).
Second Quarter
OG – Kabe Barnett 8 run (Owens kick), 9:10 (11/80/4:23).
OX – Omar Howell 6 run (Tannehill kick), 3:06 (8/74/2:49).
Third Quarter
OX – Harvey 11 pass to D.K. Johnson (Tannehill kick), 3:02 (6/41/2:22).
Fourth Quarter
OG – Jaylen Aborom 16 interception return (Owens kick), 6:15.
OX – Harvey 13 pass to Alec Vaughn (Tannehill kick), 3:52 (5/64/2:11).
OG – Barnett 10 run (Barnett pass to Trayvon Moore), 0:07 (12/80/3:45).
TEAM STATISTICS
OG OX
First downs 16 17
Total net yards 307 303
Rushes-yards 29-107 30-46
Passing yards 200 257
Comp-Att-Int 21-30-0 16-26-2
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-1
Penalties-yards 9-116 5-48
Punts-total (avg.) 5-192 (38.4) 2-84 (42.0)
Sacks-yards 0-0 4-28
Third down 5-14 4-11
Fourth down 1-1 1-3
Time of possession 25:15 22:45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Oak Grove – Courtland Harris 11-58, Kabe Barnett 16-27, Tyrell Pollard 1-8, Eugene Newell Jr. 1-3; Oxford – Omar Howell 22-72, D.K. Johnson 1-6, Michael Harvey 7-(-32).
Passing
Oak Grove – Kabe Barnett 12-3-0-200; Oxford – Michael Harvey 16-23-1-257, Trip Maxwell 0-2-1-0.
Receiving
Oak Grove – Raheem Fairley 5-63, Jordan 3-58, Tyrell Pollard 6-43, J.Q. Gray 6-29; Oxford – D.K. Johnson 6-110, JalenWebb 2-69, Trynten Brannon, 1-29, Jay Wortham 5-25.
Action photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
