Sports - High School

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Standing tall

Ocean Springs defense stages a late goal-line stand to thwart Gulfport’s upset bid

GULFPORT — Ocean Springs needed a last-second, goal-line stand to keep its Region 4-6A championship hopes alive.

The Greyhounds’ defense tackled Gulfport quarterback Derrick Lattimore at the 2-yard-line as time expired to preserve a hard-fought 20-14 victory on Friday night at Milner Stadium.

Ocean Springs (8-2, 5-1) travels to George County (7-3, 5-1) next week for the Region 4-6A title at Gill-Martin Stadium.

Harrison Central (9-1, 5-2) wins the Region 4-6A title if they beat Hancock and Ocean Springs defeats George County. The Red Rebels own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Ocean Springs, beating the Greyhounds 21-16 two weeks ago.

George County wins the Region 4-6A title if they beat Ocean Springs. The Rebels own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Harrison Central, winning their contest 44-7 last month.

“Defense wins ball games,” Greyhounds coach Todd Mangum said. “The game came down to the defense.”

Ocean Springs linebacker Wade Wells had confidence in the Greyhounds’ hard-hitting, physical defense to ruin Gulfport’s homecoming.

“We wanted to make sure Gulfport didn’t score at the end,” said Wells, a Division I recruit.

Ocean Springs scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to grab a 20-14 lead.

Greyhounds quarterback Sam Noblin tied the game on a 3-yard touchdown run with 9:26 left in regulation.

Four minutes later, Gulfport created a huge special teams mistake as punter Jamie Edwards bobbled a snap at the Admirals’ 11-yard-line.

Two plays later, Dewayne Cherry’s eight-yard TD run gave Ocean Springs a 20-14 advantage.

“It feels great to leave Gulfport with a win,” Greyhounds guard Wayne LeVoy said. “We came out and moved the ball in the second half.”

Gulfport had a final chance to pull off the upset after recovering a Greyhounds’ fumble at its 37-yard-line with three minutes left.

Lattimore drove the Admirals downfield with his running and passing, highlighted by a 25-yard pass to Travon Travis at the Greyhounds’ 15-yard-line.

But Ocean Springs’ defense came to its rescue, recording the third-ever victory at Milner Stadium.

Ocean Springs took a 7-0 first quarter lead on Noblin’s 4-yard TD run.

The Admirals (5-5, 2-4) scored two second quarter touchdowns to lead 14-7 at halftime.

Lattimore scored on a 3-yard TD run midway through the second quarter. He threw a 46-yard Hail Mary TD pass to Travis as time expired in the first half. Noblin and Joe Morrow tipped Lattimore’s pass in the end zone, but the ball bounced into Travis’ hands.

With the loss, Gulfport was officially eliminated from the 6A playoff chase. The Admirals conclude the regular season next Friday against Biloxi.