INCREDIBLE: Gulfport wins MS 7A state championship with Hail Mary on final play
Prayers were answered in Starkville.
Gulfport quarterback Parker Nettles threw up a Hail Mary on the final play of the 7A state championship game, and it found the hands of Myles Stubbs with zeroes on the clock to tie the score at 20. Carter Platt finalized the stunning 21-20 win over reigning champion Tupelo with the extra point.
The Admirals are state champions for the first time in school history in their second-ever trip to the final round and first since 1982.
Tupelo left Gulfport coach Blake Pennock and his offense 27 seconds when the Golden Wave capitalized on a blocked punt with a seemingly go-ahead touchdown plunge by Mississippi State commit JJ Hill.
A first-play holding call, followed by a 12-yard completion to Myles Stubbs set the Admirals up at midfield. Javious Hales was on the receiving end of the next ball (a 17-yard completion), and he made his way out of bounds with just two seconds remaining on the clock.
Nettles launched a pass to the middle of the end zone, the ball bounced off the hands of crashing Tupelo defenders and Stubbs tracked it into his gloves before it could find the grass.
“That’s something you see in a movie,” Gulfport running back Cooper Crosby said. “And it was tipped, too. It was just insane.”
Gulfport’s own MSU-signed back Crosby scored on the ground twice, both times on the ground, on his way to earning MVP of the game. Both of his scores came in the first half where he found 159 of his 167 rushing yards.
Trailing 14-7 coming out of halftime, Tupelo shifted exclusively to its Wild Wave package with Hill at quarterback and chewed over seven minutes of clock during a 13-play game-tying touchdown drive.
Gulfport’s half would only worsen from there. It made its way inside the Tupelo 5-yard line but walked away empty-handed after a missed field goal.
It was later forced to punt with just over two minutes left, but it was blocked by the Golden Wave, setting Tupelo up at the plus-37-yard line. The short field and abbreviated drive left Gulfport with time and a missed extra point following Hill’s touchdown gave it the opportunity to finally etch itself into Mississippi’s high school football history book.
Nettles completed 12 of his passes for 228 yards and one storybook touchdown. He led an offense that produced 376 yards on 7.7 yards per play.
“Being my senior year, this has been what I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid watching my old high school making state championships and getting beat,” Nettles said. “I knew I wanted to get back there and win it. And I’m back here at the highest stage of Mississippi football and won a championship. It feels amazing.”
Gulfport is the first top-classification team from the Coast to win a state title since Moss Point in 2000, ending a 25-year drought and capping an unforgettable season put together by an Admirals team that stumbled out of the gates at 1-2 before ripping off an 11-game win streak.
Pennock’s third team in Gulfport finishes with more wins than any other in the program’s over 100-year history.
This story was originally published December 6, 2025 at 11:19 PM.
