Not too many people saw last week’s game playing out the way it did, and now the Oak Grove Warriors are in a situation where they can’t afford any more losses. Their backs are against the wall.
“There are a lot of games left, but that’s kind of our mindset,” Oak Grove coach Drew Causey. “We know we put ourselves in a hole by losing Friday, and we have to go out and play with a lot of passion and like we’re capable of playing. If we do that, I think we’re a tough team to play.”
The Warriors dropped a 1-point game to Terry at home Friday, and there was one word used by Causey to describe it, too.
“Frustrating is probably the best way to describe it,” he said. “We did not execute like we’re capable of executing, and they probably didn’t play with a whole lot of passion. I think we came in, in all honesty, taking them kind of lightly.”
Oak Grove (5-3, 2-2 in Region 3-6A) can’t afford to take any more teams lightly with three games left in the regular season. When a region team loses three games in a season, most of the time it’ll have to rely on other things happening to get into the playoffs.
However, Oak Grove will play back-to-back games with teams with better region records, so it’ll have a chance to win tiebreakers over those squads and possibility leapfrog teams in the standings. The Warriors will travel to Brandon and Pearl the next two weeks, then finish the season at home with a winless Jim Hill team.
“They’re big games, but in our regions, there really isn’t an easy game,” Causey said. “If you go look at our region, I think there are two teams with losing records right now, and everybody else has a winning record. It’s definitely tough, but we just have to come ready to play.”
Brandon (5-4, 3-1), Oak Grove’s next opponent, rebounded last week with a 23-20 win over Meridian after falling to Petal in controversial fashion. Sophomore quarterback Will Rogers passed for 211 yards on 22-of-32 passing, and senior running back Javarius Spann rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
Spann has seen an uptick in production the last four games, which includes a season-best 152-yard and two-touchdown performance at Petal two weeks ago. Rogers has completed 67 percent of passes this season on 245 attempts for 1,781 in his first season as the starter. He also has 10 touchdowns with just three interceptions.
“They've got a couple of guys that they put back there to put in their hands,” Causey said. “The quarterback does a really good job of finding open receivers, and they’re very balanced on offense.”
Petal’s 31 points are the most Brandon has given up all season, and that included three points in overtime, as the Bulldogs are only allowing opponents to score 16.4 points a game. Oak Grove is averaging 38 points a game, so something has to give when these two meet Friday.
Causey is also interested in one particular matchup when his offense is on the field.
“I think they have a very good defense,” he said. “There are a lot of new faces on that side of the ball, too. They have one defensive back who is probably best in the state, and I imagine he’s going to be matched up on (Oak Grove junior receiver Kevin Barnett) all night. That’s going to be a fun matchup. We’re going to have to have some guys step up and make big plays.”
