BRANDON — Brandon running backs Nate Blount and Jarvis Durr could not be stopped.
The tandem combined to rush for 321 yards as Brandon knocked off second-ranked Oak Grove 24-17 in a critical Region 3-6A matchup at Bulldog Stadium.
With the win Brandon (6-2, 5-0 Region 3-6A) is now in sole possession of first place in the district with two games remaining.
“I told Nate and Jarvis at halftime that we were going to ride ya’ll until the cows call and that’s what we did,” said Brandon coach Sam Williams. “We do what we believe and that’s run football and both of them can do that really well.”
The first score of the game was a defensive touchdown as Oak Grove’s Jaylen Aborom picked off a pass and scampered 46 yards to the end zone to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 5:50 left in the first quarter.
On the second play of the second quarter Durr took the handoff and scored on a 30-yard touchdown run for Brandon to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:20 left.
Oak Grove retook the lead at 14-7 on a 3-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal by J.Q. Gray with 3:27 left in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 14-14 on the second play of the third quarter as Nate Blount scored on a 45-yard touchdown run with 11:30 remaining.
After Chris Brooks intercepted a Kabe Barnett pass Brandon took a 17-14 lead on a Jalen Ballard 34-yard field goal with three minutes left in the third quarter.
Oak Grove tied the game at 17 on a Byron Easterling 26-yard field goal nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
On Brandon’s ensuing drive Durr took the direct snap ran off tackle and scampered 45 yards down the far sideline to end zone to give Brandon the 24-17 lead with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter.
Brandon turned the ball over on downs at the Oak Grove 31-yard line with 3:37 left, but two plays later Manny Didia intercepted a Barnett pass at the 50-yard line with 3:14 left and Blount ran the ball on five straight plays to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
“It’s huge for us and we truly believed we were going to win this game. Defense played really well,” Williams said. “In the preseason nobody talked about us, and the kids believed in what were, doing and now here we are 6-2 and if we win out, we will host playoff games all the way through, but we got to keep to continue to get better.”
Blount finished the night with 251 yards rushing on 37 carries with a touchdown. Durr had 70 yards rushing on 10 carries. The Brandon defense held Oak Grove offense to 264 yards total and just 60 yards rushing.
“The second half we came back to do what we do and that’s run. When the line is blocking and we get the right hole it’s hard to stop us,” Blount said. “Oak Grove is a really good team and we believed in each other as a team and got the win.”
Barnett had 204 yards passing to lead the Warriors (6-2, 4-1) offensively.
“They played really well, and we turned the ball over twice in the second half and didn’t play well on the offensive line,” said Oak Grove coach Drew Causey. “Brandon is probably the most overlooked team in the state right now and they’re playing really well.”
Oak Grove returns home next week and will host Pearl.
