72 yards in 20 seconds. Inside the final drive that won Gulfport the state title
The final play from scrimmage in the final high school football game of the year could not have been scripted with any more shock, magic, disbelief or chaos.
Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville was the frigid host to a miraculous last-play touchdown pass that led to Gulfport signing its name into the Book of Champions for the first time in the 45th season of the MHSAA playoff era.
Parker Nettles, Myles Stubbs and Carter Platt combined to score seven points between the two biggest, most memorable plays in Admirals history to edge Tupelo, 21-20, Saturday.
This, despite a Golden Wave repeat appearing to be a foregone conclusion with 27 seconds left on the clock.
Tupelo had erased a 14-7 halftime deficit and had every ounce of momentum on its side after two fourth quarter Admirals drives ended with a missed field goal and a blocked punt.
As the Tupelo sideline celebrated JJ Hill’s go-ahead touchdown, the beginning of Gulfport’s improbable comeback began on an untimed down: Golden Wave kicker Hopson Daughdrill pushed the extra point wide, leaving their lead at six points.
Gulfport trailed, 20-14, with 27 seconds left.
“The plan was just one step at a time, it’s two-minute drill, it’s something we literally do at the end of practice on every single Wednesday,” coach Blake Pennock told the Sun Herald. “We talked about getting out of bounds. If you can’t, we’re not wasting any time. Just get what you can get and then get down.”
The kickoff, 0:27
Cordarious Payton fielded the kick at his own 13-yard line. He gave the Admirals an extra 15 yards by working his way to the 28-yard line.
The effort would come at a cost of seven seconds.
1st-and-10 at the Gulfport 28, 0:20
Gulfport had one timeout in its pocket when it lined up in 10 personnel over 70 yards away from an end zone it needed to reach in only 20 seconds.
It was comfortable attacking the middle of the field if it needed to, and it did. Nettles worked through his progression before firing down the seam toward Jayonne Pollard’s dig route.
But Pollard was on the ground. Tupelo’s JQ Harrell had tackled him well before the ball arrived. A defensive hold was assessed, and the Admirals were handed 10 free yards, but at the cost of six seconds.
1st-and-10 at the Gulfport 38, 0:14
The margin of error does not exist from this point forward. With only 14 seconds left, one incompletion or negative play would leave Gulfport in an even more dire situation.
The Admirals ran leveled-out routes to the short side against man coverage and Nettles perfectly placed the ball into the numbers of Stubbs, who immediately stepped out of bounds right at midfield.
Gulfport reserved its final timeout and operated at a slightly quicker pace with five seconds taken from the clock.
1st-and-10 at the 50, 0:09
The G-men narrowly avoided a critical setback.
Gulfport flooded the short side with three deep routes on a play it calls “Disco.” Pollard and Stubbs run clearout go routes from the outer two positions. Javious Hales was the inside receiver and similarly took off on what initially appeared to be a vertical route.
But he slammed the breaks and cut to the outside toward the sideline. Stubbs, however, stopped his route at the same depth and a collision between the two nearly occurred. Hales leaped in front of Stubbs, corralled the ball and maintained his balance enough to get out of bounds with two seconds remaining.
Before the near-miss, there was an unsung moment back in the pocket from the last player you’d expect to not be in the spotlight on such a crucial drive. The MVP of the game, the engine of the offense and the receiver of Nettles’ longest pass of the year, Cooper Crosby was in pass protection.
Crosby lined up in the backfield on each play of the possession to provide extra protection for Nettles. It proved vital on this play when he picked up an edge rusher that had gained leverage on the quarterback as he stepped into his throw, giving him the extra moment needed to push the ball downfield.
1st-and-10 at the Tupelo 33, 0:02
Gulfport lined up in a doubles-bunch formation. Tupelo had been on its heels for three plays, so it used its final timeout to set up its coverage.
The break gave the Gulfport student section a chance to gather behind the fence at field level next to the end zone.
The Admirals didn’t change their look when they returned the field. Two receivers were on each side in tight formation.
“I’ve finished Thursday practice every week for the last 12 years on this exact play,” Pennock said. “The funny thing about it is the last play of the season for us last year versus Petal was that play, and it was almost caught.”
The idea is to create a condensed diamond and a “rebound” situation. Hales is tasked with making the initial attempt on the ball. The other three receivers form a diamond around the play.
The Wave put three defenders on the line of scrimmage ahead of the snap, five across the 20-yard line and three deep.
It was a three-step dropback for Nettles. He stepped up into a clean pocket and launched.
Moments before, Pennock had a word with his senior general. “He’s got an arm that can surely throw that thing out of the back of the end zone,” Pennock said. “I told him put some air on that thing and get it to go high. And when the ball’s in the air I’m like, ‘we’ve got a shot.’ ”
The ball traveled about 45 yards. Six white jerseys collided with one blue jersey in the center of the end zone. Stubbs was at the goal line in front of the scrum. Camden Morgan was just behind it. Either one could have caught the carom, but Stubbs was closest.
“Some of it is skill, some of it is preparation and some of it is luck,” Pennock said. “If the ball bounced the other way, we didn’t have anybody there. But the ball bounced this way, and we had two people there.”
His outstretched hands snagged the ball and tucked it.
The extra-point attempt, 0:00
The game had not been decided just yet. There was still one untimed down to handle. Earlier in the game, Platt had connected on his first two extra-point attempts.
He entered the game 55-of-56 on PATs, but his last kick in the game had been a 28-yard field goal that missed wide.
Gulfport used its final timeout to allow the raucous celebration of the previous play to run its course without a rushed extra-point operation.
Pennock looked at the scoreboard and exaggeratedly inhaled and exhaled with the special teams unit. He passionately delivered a final message, personally spoke to Platt and his holder Kaleb McDonald and then hugged long-snapper Braxton Boswell.
“The PAT field goal is how I’ve started every single practice the seven years I’ve been a head coach,” Pennock said. “That’s literally the first thing we do. I really wasn’t worried about our kicker, (with Platt’s) mentality I know he’s fine. The thing people don’t realize is that holder and that snapper have a heck of a job to do themselves. I knew we were going to block it right. I was like ‘Look, take a breath. We’re going to knock this thing through.’”
The Admirals took the field.
The snap was perfect. The hold was perfect. The kick was perfect.
Gulfport won and a sea of blue stormed the field.
“It’s elation,” Pennock said. “The sacrifice is worth it. You’re thankful for all the people that had a big part in it. You’re happy for them and happy for yourself. The way that it happened, that part of it was shocking. It left a little bit of a numb feeling.”
Gulfport celebrated with a championship parade upon returning home as the first top-class Coast program to win a title in 25 years.
