HATTIESBURG – The Oak Grove Warriors (2-0) turned in another near perfect performance through the eyes of the fans, but for coach Drew Causey, there’s still room for improvement.
Junior quarterback John Rhys Plumlee has only four incompletions through two games, and junior receiver Kevin Barnett has shined enough to receive his first Southeastern Conference scholarship from Ole Miss. Also, don’t forget about the stout defensive performances, and solid running back and offensive line play from those players.
Even when Plumlee misses a read or forgets to send a receiver in motion, the pass still has a good chance of being caught. Through two games, Plumlee is 25-for-29 for 450 yards, seven touchdowns and, more importantly, no interceptions.
“He’s played really well, but the thing is, he can still get better,” Causey said. “There were a couple of throws he made against Purvis when he threw it to KB, and that was the wrong read. It worked out for a touchdown, and KB made a heck of a catch. A couple of times the other night, he made the wrong read, we thought, but the guys did a good job of catching the ball that he threw.”
Barnett has 12 receptions, eight more than anybody else on the team, for 233 yards and five scores. Causey believes he has room for improvement, as well.
“I think he can get a lot better,” he said. “There are times where he’s made some great catches, but I think there are some things he can still do to get better, like route running and things like that. For the most part, he’s had great success in the first two games, and we just have to continue to stay hungry, stay humble and keep working like we’ve worked so far.”
The Oak Grove offense will have a tough test this week as Laurel comes to town. Despite losing to Hattiesburg last week, the Golden Tornadoes held the Tigers to 267 yards of total offense – 129 rushing and 138 passing – with an interception.
Laurel (1-1) did a good job of beating the Hattiesburg offense to the outside, preventing any production outside of the tackles. However, Hattiesburg was able to find some holes up the middle.
“They’re very athletic and run really well,” Causey said. “The linebackers do a good jog of getting to the ball, and we have to be ready for that. We’ve played Laurel three times in a row, and they’re really talented every year.”
Freshman quarterback Xavier Evans, who has proven the bright lights on Friday nights aren’t too much for him, runs the Laurel offense. He led the Tornadoes to a big Week 1 win over Callaway, and nearly pulled off the comeback last week. Against Hattiesburg he helped moved the offense 70 yards trailing 20-14 with 1:49 to go in the game and no timeouts. But on second-and-goal, he threw right to Hattiesburg linebacker Dexter Jordan for the game-ending interception.
Evans can make plays with his feet, too, but Oak Grove is used to playing against mobile quarterbacks. The Warriors have seen two running quarterbacks so far this season, and they also see Plumlee every day in practice.
Causey thinks that has helped his defense prepare each week.
“I think it does,” he said. “Our defense went against (Plumlee) all of camp, and we think he is pretty athletic, too. I think that helps when you go against one every day in practice, so we just have to make sure we do our assignments and try to keep him in the pocket all we can.”
