Oak Grove fans are hoping history won’t repeat this week.
It was no more than two years ago when Oak Grove, the then-defending state champs, traveled to Ocean Springs for the second round of the playoffs and left with a loss.
“We have to go out and go execute,” Oak Grove coach Drew Causey said. “We have to be locked in. We have to play to the standard of our program, and our guys understand that. This senior class, when they were sophomores, our season ended in Round 2 at Ocean Springs.
Unlike 2021, Oak Grove (8-3) has already played and beaten Ocean Springs 35-21, but both teams are much different. The Greyhounds, which got off to a 1-4 start, have since won six straight games, primarily due to settling on a quarterback.
“When we played them the first time, they were playing two guys at quarterback,” Causey said. “They settled the one that’s more of a runner, and they moved the other quarterback to free safety.”
Quarterback Shane Whitehead opened up the Greyhounds’ run game as he ran for 865 yards and 11 touchdowns and was thrown for 548 yards and seven scores. Along with Whitehead is running back Will Smith, who has rushed for 1,206 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“They have good skill guys offensively, Causey said. “The biggest thing is that they will do a lot of zone read and a lot of quarterback power read and stuff like that. To me, the key is that you have to stop the quarterback and rally to the other guys. You can’t let the quarterback get loose.”
At the same time, Causey is confident about how well the Warriors’ offense has grown over the course of the season, with first-year starter Kellen Hall grown experience behind an offensive line that has found chemistry.
“You can look at that game we played earlier and get an idea of what they think and what we think on how to attack each other,” Causey said. “From that week from now, we have shuffled our offensive line around. We are not the same football team. Kellen has 11 or 12 games under his belt now. He is a different player. There are some things that they did that he hadn’t seen before. They played us differently than how they have played everybody else all season. He’s seen just about everything now and is a more mature player.”
During Ocean Springs’ six-game win streak, the Greyhound has held a team to 10.8 points per game. Defensive end Bryant Ausmer and Brody Saenz have been critical for Oceans Springs’ defensive front. Ausmer has put up 66 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, and 18 sacks, while Saenz has recorded 82 tackles, 19 TFLs and four sacks.
“(Ausmer) is very talented,” Causey said. “When we played them the first time. He gave us some fits. He plays really hard. He has a heck of a motor. You have to block him first. But then (Saenz), who is an outside linebacker, comes off the edge. He’s athletic and runs well.”
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