PEARL — They ain’t the biggest, but the Oak Grove defense stepped up.
Behind the stingy defense and a potent passing attack, the Warriors ran past Pearl 31-7 at Ray Rogers Stadium on Friday night.
Oak Grove (7-3, 4-2 Region 3-6A) can clinch the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game with a win over Northwest Rankin at home next week.
“I thought our small, undersized defense played well and they rose to the occasion. They played lights out,” said Oak Grove coach Drew Causey. “The offense is starting to click. We played well in the first half and not so well in the second half, but I’m super proud of the guys.”
The Warrior defense in the first half held Pearl to just 15 yards of total offense and one first down.
On the other hand, Oak Grove was clicking.
On their second drive of the game quarterback, Damon Stewart found Eric Robinson on a 59-yard touchdown pass on a wheel route to put the Warriors up 7-0 with 8:40 left in the first quarter.
Stewart then hooked up with Liam Breithaupt on a 26-yard pass with 2:30 left in the opening quarter to extend the Oak Grove lead to 14-0.
In the second quarter, Stewart found Jordan Coleman on a 29-yard touchdown pass with 10:13 left to extend the lead to 21-0.
Right before halftime, Stewart found Brandon Hayes in the back corner of the end zone from 26 yards out to extend the lead to 28-0.
Stewart finished the night 13-of-19 for 283 yards with four touchdowns and an interception.
“Good team wins, receivers making plays and the offensive line did a good job of protecting,” Stewart said. “They like to bring their safeties down and an edge blitz, so I checked into pass protection I liked and picked the match-up I like. I’m a senior and got one guaranteed game left, so I want to make the best of it,” said Stewart.
Micheal Owens added a 29-yard field goal with 9:33 left in the fourth quarter for the Warriors.
Carleontaye Spires had a six-yard touchdown run for Pearl (6-4, 3-3).
“I was worried about covering those wide-outs. They are explosive and that was an issue going into it,” said Pearl coach John Perry. “They are pretty good at running and passing so we couldn’t take away both.”
