Pine Belt Mayhem: Oak Grove upsets No. 1 Brandon 25-20
HATTIESBURG – In the end, it came down to one play, win or lose.
And when it came down, it was Oak Grove senior Jaylen Aborom who made that play, picking off a pass in the end zone with 12 seconds remaining in the game to preserve the Warriors’ 25-20 upset win over top-ranked Brandon Friday night at Warrior Field.
The victory in the Region 3-6A showdown secured a playoff bid for Oak Grove (7-2 overall), while the Bulldogs lost for the first time this season after opening the year with seven straight wins.
It also created a logjam atop the region standings, with the Warriors, Brandon and Warren Central all at 4-1 in region play.
“We asked them all week to step up and play to their potential and what they were capable of doing,” said Oak Grove coach Drew Causey. “And this was probably the first ball game we’ve done that all year.
“I am super proud of our defense. (Brandon) is a phenomenal football team, and for our defense to bow up like they did, especially at the end, I am so proud of them.”
It was fitting that the Warriors sealed the deal with a big defensive play, because it was the defense that stood tallest for Oak Grove. The Warriors forced five turnovers and a safety
That came after the Bulldogs’ opening drive of the game was stymied in Oak Grove territory, when junior quarterback Landon Varnes mishandled a high snap and sophomore Jaylon Moore recovered for the Warriors at the 39-yard-line.
After Oak Grove went three-and-out, Varnes was sacked for a 7-yard loss and his third-down pass missed the mark. On fourth down, the snap sailed over the punter’s head and through the back of the end zone to put the Warriors ahead 2-0.
“We didn’t do enough in the first half,” said Brandon coach Sam Williams. “We put ourselves in position to win, but this is a good group here. We’ll go back, retool and come back strong.
“But you can’t win against a good team turning it over five times like we did, plus we had a lot of little errors, mental mistakes. You never want to lose a ball game, but maybe this is for the best.”
Oak Grove again went three-and-out, and on the second play of the Brandon possession, junior Nate Blount burst through the middle for a 32-yard gain, then a 23-yard pass from Varnes to senior Devin Thigpen put the Bulldogs in business at the Warrior 36.
However, Blount was stopped for no gain, then three straight passes went awry, giving Oak Grove the ball after the fourth-down stop.
This time, the Warriors got their offense going behind the play of junior quarterback A.J. Maddox. Oak Grove drove 64 yards on 11 plays, scoring on a 5-yard run by sophomore Kylin Champagne.
Maddox’s statistics were modest, but he was effective running the Warrior offense. Maddox completed 9 of 20 passes for 98 yards and ran 10 times for a net of 42 yards.
“A.J. is growing every week and getting better and better,” said Causey. “Taking off running when it was there, knowing when to run, was special tonight.”
It took Brandon all of 13 seconds to answer, the time it took for sophomore Quincy Phillips to return the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a score. However, the snap for the conversion went over the holder’s head and the score remained 9-6.
The Bulldogs seemed to have momentum after getting another three-and-out, then quickly moved back into Oak Grove territory.
But that drive was thwarted when Varnes tried to beat a fierce pass rush by throwing the ball away, but it ended up in the hands of Oak Grove senior T.J. Harvey.
Maddoz had runs of 21 and 19 yards, as the Warriors ate u five minutes, 19 seconds off the clock before settling for a 28-yard Luke Stewart field goal with 55 seconds left in the first half.
“I really appreciated my teammates; they came through for me tonight,” said Maddox. “My line did a good job of holding up their front, and if the pass wasn’t there, I took advantage of the openings.
“Their defensive backs kind of bit on the screen a little and that opened things up for me to run.”
Oak Grove got the ball right back when senior Johnnie Evans picked up a fumble after a pass play and rambled 18 yards to the Brandon 20, getting Stewart into position for a 27-yard field goal with no time on the first-half clock.
“A lot of our young guys stepped up,” said Aborom. “We have a young defense, and we just came together tonight. It’s just one big win; now we’ve got to keep it going and continue to win.”
The Warriors added to their lead with the opening possession of the second half, taking a pooch kick at their own 49.
Junior Tajii Burkett had a 22-yard dash on a jet sweep to the Brandon 29, and that was good enough to get Stewart in range for a 43-yard field goal and an 18-6 lead.
But the third quarter belonged to the Bulldogs, as they got their offense in gear, which meant a lot of Nate Blount, who finished the night with 133 yards on 32 carries.
Brandon marched 63 yards on 10 plays, with Blount getting the bulk of the carries, with Varnes finding the range with third-down passes of 15 yards to senior Lester Miller and 29 yards to Thigpen.
Blount got the score on a 6-yard pass on fourth down. For the game, the Bulldogs were 7 of 14 on third down and 3 of 5 on fourth down.
“He was a tough man to tackle,” said junior defensive tackle Caleb Moore. “We just tried to keep him contained as much as we could and keep him from getting up the field. We had to fight it out all night long.”
After stopping the Warriors after one first down, Brandon took the lead on a 13-play, 70-yard drive, with Blount and Phillips trading big runs. It was Phillips who got the touchdown on a 4-yard run, with the PAT giving the Bulldogs a 20-18 lead.
But Oak Grove responded with its biggest drive of the season so far, marching 80 yards on nine plays for what proved to be the game-winning score with 8:36 to play in the fourth quarter.
Maddox completed passes of 11 and 34 yards to senior J.Q. Gray to ignite the drive, Champagne had an 8-yard run and another key 5-yard run, and it was Burkett who got the score on a 12-yard scamper around right end.
Burkett had 32 yards on five carries and caught five passes for 49 yards. Champagne added 57 yards on 10 carries for Oak Grove.
Ultimately, it was up to the Warrior defense. Evans got his second turnover of the game after Varnes was harassed into a bad throw on a fourth-down play.
Oak Grove was able to burn extra time off the clock when senior punter Nekhi Cox saw an opening and dashed 20 yards for a key first down.
“We saw it the punt before, and I just told him if it opens up like that again, to take off if it’s there,” said Causey. “He did a great job being able to see that and taking off, and that was a big momentum shift right there.”
Still, the Warriors weren’t able to run it out, and Brandon got the ball back at their own 43 with 1:46 to play and all three time outs.
Varnes made his two best throws of the night, an 18-yard pickup to Miller and a 14-yard pass to junior Joshua Cox to give the Bulldogs a first-and-goal at the Oak Grove 9.
Blount ran for a yard and was stacked up by Caleb Moore, then Varnes rolled right and tried to find Miller, but Aborom was there for the interception to seal the win.
“I just knew they were going to take a shot to the end zone, either to the other side or my side,” said Aborom. “I stayed back saw the ball and went up for it.”
Brandon still had a time out, but Williams said he was going for broke on the pass play.
“We had a play we liked, our best player against their best player,” said Williams. “We just came up a little short. Last year, we came up on the winning end; tonight they came up winners.”
With both teams safely in the Class 6A postseason, the two teams will now fight it out for the top spot in the region.
Oak Grove hosts Pearl next week, the finishes on the road at Northwest Rankin, while Brandon has Northwest Rankin at home next week and Pearl on the road to finish the regular season. Warren Central, meanwhile, finishes with Petal on the road and Meridian at home.
“(Brandon) is a great football team; they’re No. 1 in the state for a reason,” said Causey. “But we’ve got two more regular season games we’ve got to finish with before we can worry about the postseason.”
