LAUREL – When the numbers are broken down, there isn’t a clear-cut statistic that proves this season’s Oak Grove team is having a better start to the season than the 2017 version.
Fresh off a 36-18 pounding of the Laurel Golden Tornadoes Friday night Between the Bricks, the Warriors have matched their 3-0 start to the season from last year. But there’s a different feeling for the squad this go-round. Senior quarterback John Rhys Plumlee, who passed for 214 yards, rushed for another 58 yards and scored four total touchdowns Friday, says there’s one big difference from where Oak Grove was at this point last year compared to now.
“I feel like last year at this point, we kind of hit our peak,” Plumlee said. “I think, as of right now, we can get so much better at so many things, at all aspects of the game. I think that’s the main difference I feel with this team right now.”
Even though it rained all afternoon that made the field wet, muddy and slick, Plumlee only had four incompletions on 23 tries. He even completed his first 10 passes, and his No. 1 target was senior Liam Breithaupt, who caught 10 of Plumlee’s 19 completions for 79 yards.
“Really? The ball was like a piece of soap tonight, so I was just trying to get it to them,” Plumlee said with a laugh when he was told his passing percentage. “Just get the ball in the athletes’ hands to make them make plays.”
Plumlee wasn’t the only one making plays, though. With a couple of wide receivers out with injuries, junior Tavion Smith scored two touchdowns on just three receptions, and running backs Nick Milsap and E.J. Newell had big games, too. Oak Grove’s leading receiver from 2017, senior Kevin Barnett, has been out all season, and junior Brandon Hayes missed Friday’s game with a foot injury after a stellar performance last week.
Smith caught three passes for 37 yards with the two scores, Milsap led the team with 100 rushing yards on 21 carries and Newell added 45 rushing yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts. Newell’s touchdown sealed Laurel’s fate in the third quarter, pushing Oak Grove’s lead to 29-6.
Oak Grove coach Drew Causey praised the offensive line for his team’s 214 rushing yards.
“I credit a lot of that to our offensive line tonight,” he said. “We got on them pretty good coming out of halftime. I’m proud of those guys. They kind of came together a little bit and it was something we needed. We’re really going to count on those guys all year.”
Newell’s 14-yard touchdown scamper came just one play after Oak Grove’s Jack Harris sacked the Laurel punter for a 25-yard loss after a bobbled snap.
Smith’s first touchdown came early in the first quarter – a 9-yard connection – to put Oak Grove up 8-0, then Plumlee found sophomore Jordan Coleman for a 35-yard touchdown pass later in the first to take a 15-0 lead.
The Warriors would stall in the second quarter, however, as Laurel cut the lead to 15-6 by halftime.
“We just didn’t execute as well,” Causey said. “We were doing some different stuff, offensively. We got into some empty (backfield) stuff, we dropped a snap at one point, so we just didn’t execute very well.”
In the third quarter, Plumlee found Smith once again, this time for 18 yards to take a 22-6 advantage. Newell added his score minutes later, then Plumlee capped off his night with an 11-yard touchdown run.
Plumlee took the ball to the left side, put his foot in the ground and ran right past a Laurel defender whose knees buckled.
“I’ve been working on it,” Plumlee said of his juke. “No need to go over when you can go around.”
Now, Plumlee and the Warriors turn their attention to Hattiesburg. A battle of 3-0 teams will meet at Warrior Field next Friday. This was the game Plumlee missed in 2017. The quarterbacks don’t necessarily go head-to-head, but the game features two of the state’s best at the position.
“(Hattiesburg quarterback) Snoop (Conner) is a really good player. A heck of an athlete,” Plumlee said. “Being compared to Snoop, it’s kind of a cool thing because we almost kind of do the same thing. He runs it a whole lot more and I kind of throw it a little bit more, but being in that big-time game environment, it’s going to be great.”
Oak Grove 36,
Laurel 18
Score by Quarter
Oak Grove 15-0-14-7—36
Laurel 0-6-0-12—18
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
OG — Smith 9 pass from Plumlee (2-point successful), 7:30.
OG — Coleman 35 pass from Plumlee (kick good), 0:29.
Second Quarter
LHS — Henderson 65 pass from Ulmer (kick blocked), 11:07.
Third Quarter
OG — Smith 18 pass from Plumlee (kick good), 4:49.
OG — Newell 14 run (kick good), 3:01.
Fourth Quarter
LHS — Terrell 1 run (kick no good), 11:58.
OG — Plumlee 11 run (kick good), 7:40.
LHS — Perryman 36 run (kick no good), 5:41.
TEAM STATISTICS
Oak Grove -- Laurel
First Downs 29 -- 16
Rushes-Yards 45-214 -- 33-159
Att-Comp-Int. 23-19-0 -- 23-12-0
Passing Yards 214 -- 153
Total Plays-Yards 68-428 -- 56-312
Punts-Avg. 2-31 -- 3-24.3
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 -- 2-1
Penalties 5-36 -- 7-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Oak Grove: Milsap 21-100; Plumlee 10-58 TD; Newell 11-45 TD; Keys 1-3; Patton 1-(-3).
Laurel: Perryman 15-150 TD; Terrel 11-29 TD; Ulmer 5-8; Smith 1-(-3); Page 1-(-25).
Passing
Oak Grove: Plumlee 19-for-23 214 yds. 3 TDs.
Laurel: S. Ulmer 12-for-23, 153 yds., TD.
Receiving
Oak Grove: Breithaupt 10-79; Ruffin 4-57; Smith 3-37 2 TDs; Coleman 1-35 TD; Keys 1-6.
Laurel: Henderson 2-74 TD; K. Ulmer 3-30; Windham 3-28; Johnson 3-20; Terrel 1-1.
