Oak Grove grinded past Brandon 20-7 on Friday night at Warrior Field, earning a key Region 3-7A victory that thrusts the Warriors right back into the thick of the playoff race.
The Warriors (2-1 in region play) have now won two straight after dropping a home game to Petal a few weeks ago.
“It’s been kind of a two-week deal just talking about it being time for us to grow up and be a man,” Oak Grove head coach Drew Causey said. “I think our kids grew up this week. We’ve only got about six or seven seniors that play, and everybody else is underclassmen. They grew up and put us in position to be in the driver’s seat for a home playoff game.”
Brandon struck first, scoring late in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead. But Oak Grove found its rhythm on the next drive. Quarterback Kellen Hall led the Warriors 76 yards in nine plays, capped by a reverse pass from Chavel Williams to Deavious Weary for a 6-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7-7.
“That reverse pass was a big deal,” Causey said. “Then in the second half, I really felt like our offensive line grinded it out, and we ran the ball really effectively.”
The game turned early in the second quarter when Oak Grove’s defense forced a quick three-and-out. On the very next offensive play, Hall connected with Weary for a 90-yard touchdown to give the Warriors a 13-7 lead.
“We caught it earlier — Kellen just looked the wrong way,” Causey said. “He came back to the sideline, talked about it, and we knew we wanted to run it again because it was there. Weary made a heck of a play, and Kellen threw a great ball. That kind of got us jump-started.”
Hall commanded the offense with composure, settling down after a shaky start to deliver a balanced performance.
“I think our running backs did very well,” Hall said. “We executed very well. I had a couple hiccups in the beginning, but my coaches told me to just read what we practiced all week — I did that, and we executed.”
The Warrior defense did the rest, bottling up Brandon running back Tyson Robinson, a Texas A&M commit, and holding him under 100 yards.
“They just went against probably one of the best running backs in the state, if not the country,” Causey said. “I don’t know what he had on the night, but our defense played lights out and bottled him up. Our defensive backs kept everything in front of them and played really well on the back end.”
Hall said the win reflected a hungry, maturing team that’s starting to believe.
“We fighting. We want it all,” Hall said. “We’ve lost some games earlier this season, but we just had hunger in practice. We want it all.”
Even as the game got chippy late, Hall said Oak Grove stayed composed.
“It’s just a team thing,” he said. “We go through it in practice to be disciplined. When people talk smack, we don’t let them get in our head — just fight through it and we’ll be all right.”
Hall also praised running back Roman Causey, who rebounded after a first-half fumble to help close out the win.
“He’s true — gonna be very special,” Hall said. “He was kind of down after that fumble, but I had to pick him up. He thanked me at halftime, then he got going and was eating that boy too.”
For Causey, Friday night marked a turning point for a young roster that had yet to win a true statement game.
“This group hadn’t won that big game yet, and this was a big game,” Causey said. “Moving forward, I feel like this can help us grow as a team. All those juniors and sophomores really grew up and learned how to play tonight. I’m just proud of our guys — they did great.”
Playoff picture
With Oak Grove’s win and Petal’s surprising loss to Pearl, the Region 3-7A standings are suddenly wide open:
- Petal (2-1): Still in front. Holds tiebreakers over Oak Grove and Brandon.
- Oak Grove (2-1): Back in control for a home playoff game; visits Northwest Rankin next week.
- Northwest Rankin (2-1): Beat Meridian; hosts Oak Grove in Week 10.
- Pearl (2-1): Upset Petal to rejoin the race. Hosts Brandon next week
- Brandon (1-2): On the playoff bubble. Travels to Pearl next week.
- Meridian (0-3): Eliminated.
Next Friday’s Oak Grove–Northwest Rankin matchup could determine which team earns home-field advantage in the playoffs.
