In a span of five plays, Oak Grove and Hattiesburg fumbled the ball away three times midway through the second quarter. It perfectly illustrated the number of ugly plays in this year's Battle for the 'Burg that had Oak Grove emerge with a 32-14 win over crosstown rival Hattiesburg.
"We played awful," Oak Grove Drew Causey said. We turned the ball over three times. Our tackling was awful, but we did a great job of winning."
In the first half, the Warriors were penalized eight times for 54 yards. By the night's end, that totaled 12 times for 84 yards. Hattiesburg, which has struggled with penalties in every game this season so far, wasn't much better as the Tigers racked up 79 yards on 13 flags.
However, the biggest difference in the night was the Tigers' inability to score points inside the red zone as they failed to come up with any in three different trips inside Oak Grove's 20-yard line. Notably, Oak Grove (3-0) was also guilty of turning the ball over inside Hattiesburg's 5-yard line.
"I know I'm tired of saying the same thing over and over, but a lot of self-inflicted wounds," Hattiesburg coach Tony Vance said. "It's on me as head coach. We'll get that corrected, but we have to be a more disciplined football team than what we have been these first three games.
"It was just lack of execution. We have to do a better job and execute. We have to do a better job of coaching them and making sure they can execute."
Yet four almost three entire quarters, Hattiesburg (1-2) trailed Oak Grove 16-6, with Warriors' PJ Woodland eventually turning in the critical performance of the night.
The Warriors scored on their second play of the game as quarterback AJ Maddox hit Damari Jefferson for a 57-yard touchdown. Then, with under three minutes left in the first quarter, a deflected pass from Hattiesburg's Deuce Vance fell into the hands of Woodland, who returned the ball for a 25-yard pick-six to push the lead to 13-0.
"Our linebacker Devonta Holder, he was on it and got the pass broken up," Woodland said. "I was there at the right time and took it to the house. I didn't think (I had it). I saw black jerseys, and I just tried my best."
With less than a minute in the second quarter, Hattiesburg answered with running back Tavares Wade scoring on a 10-yard run, but with a failed PAT, the score was 13-6.
Then, with 36 seconds left before the half, Woodland helped set up Luke Stewart's 37-yard field goal at the end of the half as he hauled in three of his six catches of the night to set up the kick.
"Probably the best thing of the night was that we executed in 36 seconds and just getting down the field and getting a field goal right there," Causey said. "That was huge with getting some momentum out of it."
The second half opened with Hattiesburg failing to score inside the red zone, followed by Maddox fumbling the ball on a bad snap at the Tigers' 2-yard line.
"It's definitely frustrating," Vance said. "It's the No. 1 team in Class 7A. We had them right where we wanted them, and we let them off the hook. Kudos to their players and coaches because they did a great job of making plays when it was time for them to make plays. They played smart, and we have to do a better job of playing smart."
It wasn't until less than two minutes in the third quarter that Oak Grove responded, with Maddox connecting with Woodland for a 37-yard touchdown to push the lead to 25-6.
"They had two high safeties, and AJ just put it where it's supposed to be," Woodland said. "He's a (future) Texas A&M quarterback and always puts it where it needs to be. AJ is a great quarterback. On and off the field, he is a leader.
"We didn't execute as well as we wanted to, but we still got the win."
Woodland, who is committed to Mississippi State, finished the game with six catches for 133 yards and a touchdown, along with his pick-six.
"PJ is a great player," said Maddox, who was 13-for-21 and threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns. "They were giving us the coverage we wanted. We executed on those plays. Me and PJ have great chemistry. I've grown up with him since I was a young kid at seven years old. We played baseball together until I was 13, and we hopped on the football field and never lost chemistry."
On the following drive for Hattiesburg, Vance was sacked inside the end zone for a safety. Wade got Hattiesburg back on the board in the fourth quarter with a 20-yard touchdown run, but Oak Grove tacked on another score with Tajii Burkett scoring on a 12-yard run.
"We just have to be better," Causey said. "I'm proud of our guys for winning, but we just have to play better if we want to accomplish the goals that we want to accomplish."
Oak Grove will host Madison Ridgeland Academy next week, while Hattiesburg stays at home to face Biloxi.
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