Gators swallow up Pascagoula for third straight Singing River Rivalry victory
Gautier may have been letting out a little frustration.
A week after an overtime loss in which the Gators (1-1) didn’t reach double digits, Gautier crushed its biggest rival at home in a resounding 47-6 Singing River Rivalry win over Pascagoula (1-1).
“I think our kids battled,” Gautier coach Marc High said after the game. “In a big rivalry, you never what is going to sway or what’s going to happen. Our kids played hard.”
Gator quarterback Kaden Irving threw for four touchdowns and ran for another with AJ Phillips on the receiving end of two of the scoring tosses.
Irving’s offense putting up big numbers is nothing new, but the evening did showcase a defense that looks night-and-day from 2021.
“Our defense played outstanding tonight,” High said. “Jamie Dowling took over as defensive coordinator and he has brought a fire to us. It was great defense we played.”
Pascagoula came armed with the same dynamic talents of Keilon Parnell, Cameron Deflanders and Jeffrey Rush that put up 41 points against the Gators last year.
The Panthers were shut out in the first half and scored their only touchdown on a quarterback dive from Parnell in the third.
“Our defense this year has been amazing,” Irving said. “Like I said earlier this year, our defense is honestly the heartbeat of our team. They’re the guys that keep us going when everything is going bad on the offensive side of the ball.”
The Gators allowed 29 points per game last season and 34.7 in district play. So far this year, Gautier has allowed just 18 points total through two games.
“The culture all around, working all summer, knowing what to do, coming in and getting straight to business,” defensive lineman Braylon Coleman said. “That’s all there is, just handling business. Monyeh (Boykin) at middle linebacker, he’s the one calling the plays and getting us right.
Me, myself just stepping it up and taking it to a different level this year and Shamarie Carroll, one of our lockdown defensive backs, we all just made it our mission. This is our senior year, we wanted to come in here and get a ring and handle business.”
The loss marks three straight in the series for Pascagoula after the Panthers had won the previous 10.
Head coach Lewis Sims credits Gautier for taking steps forward in recent seasons while also lamenting his own team’s mistakes during the game.
“They got better,” Sims said. “Kaden Irving changed. The coach is the same, Kaden Irving is the difference maker. Without Kaden Irving, they’re a .500 ball club. They still might be a .500 ball club in their region because they got to beat East Central and they got to beat people that control the football offensively. We didn’t do that tonight.”
Both teams get a week off to rest before the march to the playoffs continues. When the Gators return to action, they’ll face Moss Point on the road.
For Pascagoula, it’s a home date with Wayne County.
This story was originally published September 3, 2022 at 12:31 AM.
