By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
I had just finished up interviews with Lumberton players and coaches and was headed to the press box at Veterans Memorial Stadium when I ran into Oak Grove assistant coach Russell Mitchell, whose team was preparing for the next game.
“You guys have a tough act to follow,” I told him.
“Sure do,” he replied.
At that moment, just after dark on Friday, the stadium was still buzzing from the finish of the Class 1A state championship game that the Panthers had just won in dramatic fashion, on a touchdown pass with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.
Little did anyone know that the Warriors and Oxford would not only follow that act in the Class 6A championship, but they would top it in a game that everyone who watched it will never forget.
Oak Grove, trailing 28-21, drove 80 yards on 12 plays in the final four minutes of play, scoring a touchdown on a 10-yard run by junior quarterback Kabe Barnett with seven seconds left in the game.
The safe play after that would have been to kick the extra-point and head for overtime. Warrior coach Drew Causey would have been excused if he’d done just that.
But Causey chose to go for broke. He sent his offense back on the field to try for two points and the win, and they were successful, as Barnett hit senior tight end Trayvon Moore in the end zone for the go-ahead points.
A few minutes later, after a kickoff and some seven or eight laterals on the part of the Chargers, Oak Grove had a 29-28 victory and its second state championship in its seventh try.
It was the highlight of a spectacular weekend of championship high school football, probably the best of the many championship weekends I’ve seen.
When it was all over, teams from the South half of the state had won five of the six championship games, capped by West Jones’ 33-27 defeat of four-time defending Class 5A champion West Point.
It was a long overdue vindication of the quality of high school football in the Pine Belt, which has produced reams of talented players, but whose teams have many times lost in championship settings, sometimes in agonizing fashion.
More importantly, the mere fact that the championships were held at all, and on the dates in which they were originally scheduled, was no mean feat considering all the hurdles that players, coaches, fans and administrators had to overcome in the year of Covid-19.
I will confess, I was one of those that was skeptical that the season would be played, or even should be played. My worry was the risk of infection in a contact sport, with the concurrent risk to fans, cheerleaders, band members and, yes, media.
But I think once the first couple weeks passed and everyone saw that the games could be safely played within the parameters set by the coronavirus, it seemed like things would pass for whatever normal is in 2020.
Last weekend’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield Gridiron Classic, to use its official name, was the climax to a remarkable season.
The Mississippi High School Activities Associated had to move the championships from Starkville to Jackson because Mississippi State was scheduled to play Missouri last weekend, a game that was subsequently canceled.
I’m glad the folks at Memorial Stadium were able to step up and host the MHSAA, but the weekend reinforced why the championships left Jackson in the first place.
The grass field was in horrible condition, more like a small backwoods high school than a college stadium in a large city. The press box was cramped and the stadium itself looks just as rundown as it did in 2013, the last time the Classic was held there.
Nevertheless, all 12 teams that made it there were happy just to be playing anywhere for a championship, and they overcame the conditions to play some inspired football.
It began with the return to prominence of Magee in Class 3A. The Trojans were a championship contender throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, winning four times and reaching the finals another three times.
But Magee had not been to the finals since 2000, and while the Trojans were never horrible during that period, they weren’t up to the standards of earlier years.
But Magee immediately started getting better in 2018 when it hired Teddy Dyess as its coach. Dyess knows a thing or two about championship football, having produced a pair of dominant teams at Lumberton in the mid-2000s.
Dyess inherited a splendid athlete in Chandler Pittman, and he built his offense around the Trojan star.
Pittman was every bit as good as advertised in the 3A final, leading the Trojans to a 49-26 victory over Noxubee County, completing an undefeated season for Magee.
Pittman completed 15 of 28 passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns, and netted 187 yards rushing on 23 carries and added two more touchdowns on the ground.
Next came Lumberton and the 1A final against Biggersville. To be honest, the Panthers never should have been in the position where they needed a miracle in the final minute to win.
Lumberton ran 63 plays for 298 yards of offense to 39 plays for 166 yards for the Lions, and the Panthers had the ball for 28:07 to 19:53 for Biggersville.
The Panthers led 14-0 at halftime, but had a touchdown called back for a holding penalty, two plays before they turned the ball over for the only time, on a sack-fumble inside the Biggersville 30 yard-line, and that kept Lumberton from pulling away.
But Biggersville came out strong in the second half, driving for a touchdown on the opening possession of the third quarter, and the Lions stiffened on defense, keeping the speedy Lumberton athletes in check.
And when the Lions hit a 52-yard pass play to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by their standout, senior Goldman Butler, Biggersville seemed poised to cap its Cinderella undefeated season, with all the momentum on their side and just 1:08 left on the clock.
But on the two-point conversion, the Panther pass rush forced Butler into a hurried throw and the pass sailed over the head of the intended receiver, leaving the score tied.
The play re-inflated the spirits of the Lumberton sideline and allowed the Panthers to play more relaxed on the ensuing possession, knowing that if they didn’t score, they still had overtime.
Nevertheless, Lumberton coach Zach Jones trusted his athletes, and while the Panthers aren’t known as a big-time passing team, they can and do pass the ball effectively when they need to.
And senior quarterback Rodney Parker laid a perfect throw to fellow senior K’Nylan Willis, who had gotten past the defense and Willis caught the pass in stride in the end zone for the winning points.
It was the fifth state title for Lumberton, but the first since 2005, and it came after Jones had come up short in the finals twice before, including last season’s loss to Nanih Waiya.
I think that’s why Willis was so determined to take a moment in victory to console several of the Biggerville players after it was all over. The photos of Willis encouraging the Lion players have been a big hit on social media and rightly so.
Willis and the Panther seniors could relate to the stinging feeling of having worked so hard to get to a championship game and coming up short. They knew how the kids from Biggersville felt, and they empathized with them in that moment of defeat.
It was much the same for Oak Grove and Oxford in the 6A championship, the final game on Friday.
Without question, these were the two best teams in Mississippi, both 12-0 coming into the game, and they played a final that was worthy of that status. And I don’t just mean the thrilling finish. The Warriors and Chargers couldn’t have been any closer.
Consider: Oxford had 17 first downs, Oak Grove had 16; the Warriors ran 59 plays for 307 total yards, the Chargers had 56 plays for 303; Oak Grove converted 5 of 14 third downs, Oxford was good on 4 of 11.
Both teams had turnovers that led to touchdowns for the other team, but the pick-6 Oxford quarterback Michael Harvey threw to Oak Grove sophomore Jaylon Aborom was costlier.
It came midway through the fourth quarter and boosted Oak Grove’s flagging confidence.
The Chargers led 21-14 at the time and had the ball with a chance to put the game out of reach after the Warriors had made a big fourth-down stop earlier in the fourth quarter and done nothing with it on offense.
Although Oxford was able to overcome the interception and drove to retake the lead, the Warriors remained confident that they could and would score a matching touchdown.
And Causey made it clear in the postgame interview that he never had any intention of playing for a tie in the event of a touchdown.
After scoring the touchdown to trim their deficit to one, Oak Grove’s offense was in rhythm, plus the Charger defense was on its heels and gassed from trying to defend the speedy Warrior receivers after nearly four quarters of intense championship football.
It was the right call, and I don’t think Causey would have second-guessed himself for a second if the play had failed.
But he had the play he wanted, an out pattern to the left side after the tight end faked a block to freeze the defender. Moore was open by two steps and Barnett put it right on the money after looking off the defense to the right.
The crazy thing was that the very same scenario played out in the first game of Saturday’s action, the Class 4A final when Louisville drove the length of the field to score a touchdown after trailing Poplarville for most of the game.
Like Oak Grove, the Wildcats chose to go for the win and were successful on a running play, taking a 15-14 lead with 36 seconds to play.
After Poplarville was intercepted on the first play after the kickoff – the Hornets’ one and only pass of the day – Louisville had its 10th state title, and it would prove to be the only win for North teams.
For Poplarville coach Jay Beech, it was more agony in a championship setting. This was the fourth time in the past five seasons that the Hornets have reached the 4A finals under Beech only to come up short each time.
Saturday’s disappointment overshadowed a fine effort by Poplarville running backs Tyson Holston and Greg Swann.
Holston had 111 yards rushing on just eight carries and Swann had 92 yards on 10 runs, including a big 62-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
But Louisville’s highly touted defense kept the Hornets off the scoreboard and the Wildcats in the game until the offense could respond when the chips were down.
After stopping Poplarville on a fourth down at their own 18 with 6:28 to play, the Wildcats drove 82 yards on 13 plays, converted two fourth downs of their own and scored on a 24-yard pass from Jace Hudspeth to Jarvis Rush with under a minute left.
After four highly competitive games and three dramatic finishes, the Classic was due for a blowout, and Taylorsville delivered in the Class 2A final, a 42-0 blanking of Calhoun City.
Of course, all eyes were on star quarterback Ty Keyes who delivered the Tartars’ third state title in the past four seasons in his final game for Taylorsville. And Keyes had a solid game, completing 13 of 20 passes for 177 yards and three touchdown passes.
But as was the case last year against Northside, the 2A final showed that the Tartars were far from a one-man team. Senior tailback Jeffrey Pittman ran for 162 yards on 12 carries, and the Taylorsville defense held the Wildcats to just 100 total yards and picked off three passes.
It was Pittman and the defense that laid twin crushing blows on Calhoun City early in the second quarter.
After Taylorsville moved almost effortlessly to touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game, sandwiched around a three-and-out for Calhoun City, the Wildcats got a good drive going, moving to a first-and-goal at the Tartar 3.
But Taylorsville held on fourth down, and on the first play after getting the ball back, Pittman burst through the middle of the line and dashed untouched for a 97-yard touchdown run. That was the game.
The Tartars added another TD to lead 28-0 heading into halftime and coasted to victory, the school’s eighth championship overall.
Finally, it was time for the final act, West Point and West Jones for the 5A championship.
For Mustangs coach Scott Pierson, it was a sweet moment when his team held on for the school’s first state championship.
This is Pierson’s 19th season at West Jones, he’s one of the great characters in Mississippi coaching, and he’s had some fine teams, but this group of seniors has been special.
Two years ago, the Mustangs finally made it to the finals in 5A but were beaten 27-12 by West Point at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg. That team was built around a talented group of sophomores, led by quarterback Alan Follis.
That group faltered in the South State final last year, getting blown out by Picayune, and came through a tough year this year that saw them forfeit a game to South Jones due to positive Covid tests on the West Jones team.
Unlike two years ago, when West Jones trailed West Point for most of the game after a brief 3-0 lead, the Mustangs led most of the way in this year’s meeting, but the Green Wave, with their championship experience, kept fighting back and kept it close.
Credit Follis for getting it done, completing 14 of 18 passes for 215 yards and rushing for 65 yards, credit senior Kentrell Pruitt for scoring three times while gaining 70 hard-earned yards on 23 carries and credit the Mustang defense, which held West Points to just 183 yards of offense.
After Pruitt’s 4-yard touchdown run put West Jones ahead 33-27 with 11:20 to play in the fourth quarter, West Point had the ball twice more.
The Mustangs got an interception by Deonta Crosby – another one of those seniors – and held on a fourth down near midfield with 1:08 to play. West Jones was able to run out the clock, helped by a West Point penalty that negated a lost fumble by the Mustangs.
The celebration on the chewed-up turf at Memorial Stadium by the Mustangs, and by the other five championship winners in the previous games, was all the evidence one needed that the decision to play this season was right one.
Stan Caldwell is a sports writer with more than 35 years of experience in the Hattiesburg area.
Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson.
