Sports

Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Greyhounds top Rebels, win 4-6A title

LUCEDALE — Ocean Springs used two fourth -uarter defensive stops and 100-yard rushing games from Allen Howze and Dwayne Cherry to beat George County 31-21 on Friday night and capture the Region 4-6A title.

With the loss, the Rebels (7-4, 5-2) finish fourth in the region and will travel to Meridian for the first round of the state playoffs next week. Had the Rebels won, they would have taken the top spot in the region.

Ocean Springs will play host to Hattiesburg in the first round of the playoffs.

“That was what this game was all about,” Ocean Springs coach Todd Mangum said. “We had to win this game to play at home and, as Dorothy said, ‘There’s no place like home.’”

The Greyhounds (9-2, 6-1) scored 10 points midway through the fourth quarter to take control of the game. With his team leading 21-14, Justin Danise connected on a 28-yard field goal to give Ocean Springs a 10-point lead with 6:57 left in the game.

Fearful of not getting the ball back with six minutes left to play, Rebels coach Al Jones went for a first down on fourth-and-8 from his own 42. It was disaster for George County as Dawson Wells sacked Rebels quarterback R.J. Spivery for an 8-yard loss. Cherry put Ocean Springs up by 17 on the Greyhounds first play after the sack, running 31 yards for the score.

George County would come back, with backup quarterback Lewis Maples connecting with Spivery on a 6-yard scoring pass to cut the Greyhounds lead to 10 with 4:56 left. After forcing a Greyhound punt, George County got the ball back with just over two minutes in the game.

Ocean Springs defense, though, rose to the challenge. After two incomplete passes, J.T. Dickson and Jacob Souers forced Maples from the pocket. Although Maples gained a yard, the play brought up fourth-and-9. Maples managed to connect with Adrain Bradley in the flat, but a quick hit by Dickson limited the ball to a 2-yard gain and sealed the win for the Greyhounds.

“Defense wins championships,” Mangum said, “and we played good defense late in the game. We pressured the quarterback and made sure that he did not unhurried looks at the receiver.”

Al Jones said the game came down to Ocean Springs’ work along the line. Although Bradley finished with a workmanlike 101 yards on 24 carries to lead the Rebels, Jones admitted the Greyhounds managed to limit the effectiveness of Spivery.