Two South Mississippi teams move on to Hattiesburg. Here’s how it happened and what’s next
One round remains and two Mississippi Coast schools are still standing.
Gautier and Poplarville will continue their season with one more game in Hattiesburg after each claimed South State titles on Friday, while Ocean Springs and Picayune had their campaigns come to an end.
Here’s a full breakdown of how it all played out.
7A South State
- No. 1 Brandon 31, No. 1 Ocean Springs 13
The Greyhounds’ season is ended by the Bulldogs for the second time in three years.
The two traded opening-drive scores, but it was a slow pull-away for Brandon from that point on. Tyson Robinson scored three touchdowns for the Bulldogs and was the Brandon bell cow throughout the game. Ocean Springs had opportunities, but three drives into Bulldog territory ended in interception and two turnovers on downs.
Will Smith scored the Greyhounds’ first touchdown and they would not find the end zone again until the fourth quarter. If there was one bright spot, it was the final scoring drive put together by freshman quarterback Chalmers Berglind, who marched the offense 92 yards and capped it with a four-yard keeper.
Ocean Springs wraps its season with an 8-5 record. The Greyhounds’ five playoff wins over the last four seasons are the most in a four-year span by an upper classification Coast team since they won five from 2004-07.
6A South State
- No. 1 Hattiesburg 39, No. 1 Picayune 35
A chaotic and controversial game went the way of the visiting Tigers and ended Picayune’s season one game shy of the state championship for the second straight year.
Picayune had four shots at the end zone with a minute remaining. An apparent Darrell Smith touchdown catch was ruled out of bounds. BJ Ducre then caught a pass, but was also ruled out of bounds. The final shot was over the arms of Smith, giving Hattiesburg the ball with 13 seconds left.
Picayune had a 17-7 lead late in the first half before two Tiger touchdowns in 45 seconds put the Tide behind. Deuce Vance was instrumental down the stretch for Hattiesburg. Vance threw a 42-yard touchdown on fourth and 27 in the third quarter and threw the go-ahead score to former Harrison Central receiver Tyree Barnett with 3:25 remaining.
The Maroon Tide finish the year at 11-3. Picayune has reached the South State title game four years in a row and Cody Stogner became the Coast’s winningest coach through their first five seasons with 58 wins, surpassing Jerry Alexander’s 56 at Moss Point.
5A South State
- No. 1 Gautier 37, No. 1 Brookhaven 35
Heartbreak on one sideline, pure elation on the other. Gautier’s season was left to the leg of Brookhaven’s place kicker. With one second on the clock, Isaac Iles had two attempts to send the Panthers to Hattiesburg. Iles missed from 27 yards, but a penalty on the Gautier sideline gave him another chance from 22 yards. He missed again.
Trey Irving threw two touchdown passes and Latrell Pogue added two scores on the ground to propel the Gators to their first state championship game in school history.
But it almost wasn’t to be. A Gautier punt into the back of a block set up a short second-half Brookhaven score and a fumble with less than two minutes left gave the Panthers a chance at the win. But Gautier continues to prove destiny is on its side and is now 6-0 in one score games this season.
The Gators will meet North State champs West Point in Hattiesburg on Friday. That game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
4A South State
- No. 2 Poplarville 24, No. 1 Forest 21
The Hornets will be playing football in December yet again. Ty Keys turned in his first 100-yard rushing performance of the season after returning full-time earlier in the playoffs and helped secure Poplarville’s fifth South State championship of the Jay Beech era.
Keys scored two first-half rushing touchdowns, the second set up by a blocked punt courtesy of Ayden Harmon. Nick Miller added another rushing score in the third quarter and a Jackson Schultz field goal gave the Hornets a 24-14 lead in the fourth quarter.
Poplarville now faces a hill it hasn’t topped in four tries. The Hornets are 0-4 in the title game, including two losses against the team it faces next week. Louisville has won three consecutive 4A championships and have claimed five of the last seven titles.
The two are scheduled to meet again on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
