Oak Grove’s long-awaited return to postseason play Friday night had the Warriors amped up. Well, maybe a little too amped up in the early going, according to coach Drew Causey.
“For a lot of these guys, this is their first time being in the playoffs,” Causey said. “They were really excited.”
After a fumble on their first offensive possession of the game and a pair of long touchdown catches from Harrison Central’s Brandon Smith, the Warriors settled down in the second half and cruised to a 45-14 victory over the Red Rebels in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs.
“I think we just slowed down and took a deep breath and played our game,” Causey said.
For Oak Grove, it helped having a couple of seniors and key offensive players return to the fold. Wide receiver Kevin Barnett made his season debut Friday night after dealing with an unspecified injury during the regular season.
On the Warriors’ second possession of the game, quarterback John Rhys Plumlee found Barnett for a big gain that set up an 18-yard field goal from Blake Ortego.
“After that first throw, I knew I was gonna be good,” Barnett said with a smile. “I’m just glad to be back.”
Plumlee followed with a two-yard touchdown run that extended Oak Grove’s lead to 9-0 with 7:10 left in the first half. After Harrison Central scored on the following possession to cut the lead to 9-7, the Warriors answered with another touchdown drive. This time, Jarius Smith capped it off with a two-yard run, as Oak Grove took a 16-7 lead into halftime.
Causey and company believed Smith would be the team’s starting running back heading into the season, but a hamstring injury put a damper on those expectations.
“It was really nice to see him [Smith] get back in there and show why we thought he should’ve been a starter at the beginning,” Causey said. “He played great.”
Less than two minutes into the second half, Harrison Central’s Brandon Smith hauled in his second touchdown of the game, trimming the Oak Grove lead to 16-14. The Warriors proceeded to score 29 unanswered points in the second half to put the game out of reach.
“We were kind of sluggish especially offensively in the first half,” John Rhys Plumlee said. “The second half, we came out and got some stuff going and some momentum. It really worked out for us.”
Plumlee accounted for three more touchdowns in the third quarter. The Georgia commit scored on a five-yard run and later found Barnett and Ahkem Toy through the air.
Oak Grove’s defense added the final score of the game in the fourth quarter, as defensive back Ben Johnson picked off his second pass of the season and returned it for a touchdown, making it 45-14 in favor of the Warriors.
What’s Next
Oak Grove (10-2) advances to face rival Petal in a much-anticipated rematch next Friday night in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. The Warriors won this year’s regular season meeting, 26-19, back in September, sending the Panthers to 1-5.
Now at 6-6, Petal will enter next week’s contest having won five games in a row, including a 34-0 shutout of Gulfport (10-2) in their playoff opener.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Causey said.
