Oak Grove had its chances and even a double-digit second half lead Friday night against Brandon, but the Warriors couldn’t finish the job in a battle of Region 3-6A undefeateds. The Bulldogs erased a 14-0 third quarter deficit with a 31-7 scoring run en route to a 31-21 win over the Warriors.
Trailing 21-14 with 3:43 left in the fourth quarter, Oak Grove put together a game-tying touchdown drive that culminated with a pass from John Rhys Plumlee to Tavion Smith. Fueled by a strong return on the ensuing kickoff, Brandon’s offense strolled to the red zone in the game’s final seconds, setting up the game-winning 24-yard field goal from Mason Walker. To add insult to injury, Oak Grove had a lateral attempt go awry on the ensuing kickoff. The ball went straight to a Brandon player, who ran it in for seven points and extended the Bulldog lead to 31-21 with one second left.
The Warriors had their four-game winning streak snapped with the loss. It sent them to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in region play.
“[It was a] back and forth, really tight ballgame,” said Oak Grove coach Drew Causey. “We made a couple of mistakes at the end, and they [Brandon] did a great job on capitalizing. That’s a good football team.”
Causey’s Warriors struck first in Friday’s game, as John Rhys Plumlee found tight end Rasaiah Ruffin for a seven-yard Oak Grove touchdown with 4:05 left in the second quarter. On their first possession of the second half, they made it 14-0 when Plumlee hit a wide open Tyson Keys, who broke a tackle in the open field before going 43 yards for another Oak Grove touchdown.
Brandon answered with back-to-back Will Rogers-to-Jonathan Mingo touchdown connections to tie the game, 14-14. After the second, Oak Grove fumbled away a kickoff, and Brandon recovered. A few plays later, Bulldog running back Dallas Smith scored on a six-yard run to give his team a 21-14 lead with 10:06 left in the fourth quarter.
As previously mentioned, Oak Grove put together a game-tying touchdown drive a few possessions later before Brandon’s late field goal and touchdown on special teams.
“We did a lot of good stuff,” said Causey. “But they [Brandon] got a good football team.”
What’s Next
Oak Grove will face another unbeaten Region 3-6A rival next Friday night, as Pearl (5-0, 7-2) comes to town.
Said Causey, “We’re going to get right back to work on Sunday, and we’ll get going.”
