Mississippi high school football rewind: No. 10 Ocean Springs picks up a big road win, Kahnen Daniels goes off again
For the first 15 minutes of Friday night’s showdown between 10th-ranked Ocean Springs and the Northwest Rankin, nothing went right for the visiting Greyhounds.
Luckily for the boys from the coast, they saved their best for last.
The Greyhound defense snagged two big second-half interceptions and got a clutch, fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Will Berglin to Bryshen Smith to beat the Cougars 27-24 Friday night in Flowood.
MORE: See all this week's results with the SB Live Friday night scoreboard
Ocean Springs (2-1) had to erase an early 17-0 deficit for the road win after Northwest Rankin (2-1) absolutely dominated the first quarter.
Northwest tailback Dylan Lewis scored on touchdown runs of 69 and 16 yards, and Daniel Sherman drilled a 42-yard field goal on the Cougars’ first three possessions.
Ocean Springs finally found some rhythm on offense to start the second quarter with a 13-play, 94-yard scoring drive capped by Berglin’s eight-yard touchdown pass to Will Smith.
Peyton Williams tacked on a 30-yard field goal to trim the Cougars’ lead to 17-10 headed into the halftime break.
“We came out a little half-cocked,” first-year Ocean Springs coach Jake Bramlett said. “But we fought through it, and the 10 unanswered in the second quarter was big to keep us in the ballgame. Proud of (Berglin) for being able to make the adjustments.”
The pressure on the Greyhounds’ senior quarterback was relentless — the Cougars sacked Berglin five times, batted down several passes at the line and pressured him on at least a dozen more plays.
But Berglin never made the big mistake, and the Greyhounds picked up points on their first two possessions of the second half to take the lead.
Williams hit a 31-yard field goal to trim the Cougar lead to 17-14, and after Ocean Springs recovered the ensuing kickoff, Berglin connected with junior receiver Nolan Wells for a 17-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-Goal to put Ocean Springs ahead 20-17.
The Cougars weren’t done just yet — Northwest receiver Noah Williams made a circus catch on the sidelines to set up a one-yard scoring plunge for Lewis (his third TD of the night) and Northwest Rankin led it 24-20 with 2:45 to go in the third quarter.
But the Greyhound defense showed up in a big way in the fourth quarter — the Cougars’ four final possessions ended in a punt, two interceptions and a turnover on downs.
Senior corner Christian Bingham came up with the first interception, but it was Kristian Dillard’s pick with 3:04 left in the game that really sparked the Greyhounds.
“We gotta lean on those guys,” Bramlett said. “We have nine seniors on that side of the ball, and they are usually locked in… They are a turnover circus right there, and they made big plays to give our offense a chance, and that was huge.”
The offense responded with a five-play, 39-yard scoring drive, and the 26-yard touchdown pass from Berglin to junior Bryhsen Smith was a thing of beauty.
Tailback Will Smith picked up the blitzing linebacker, and Berglin stepped up in the pocket and delivered an absolute dime to his receiver in the middle of the field to give the Greyhounds the lead.
“I just tried to keep my eyes downfield,” Berglin said. “I knew he was going to be open and I just had to deliver the ball where he could catch it. I have a lot of faith in our receivers, and we just made a big play when we had to have it.”
The Cougar offense had one final possession, but it stalled immediately after White’s first three passes fell incomplete and Ocean Springs’ Trace Carter and Lamar Vaxter combined for a sack on fourth down.
“We just gave them too many free possessions in the second half,” Northwest Rankin coach Devin Cooper said. “That’s a really good football team and you can’t do that against them. I thought we did some things well, but we’ve got to avoid those critical mistakes.”
Elsewhere in the Top 10
Counting Ocean Springs, eight of the teams in the SB Live Power 10 got a tick in the win column Friday night.
Top-ranked Oak Grove jumped out to a 13-0 lead and cruised to a 32-14 win over cross-town rival Hattiesburg.
Third-ranked Tupelo blanked Hernando 40-0, and fourth-ranked Louisville (3-0) handled Columbus 45-20.
Down on the coast, fifth-ranked Picayune (2-1) thumped D’Iberville 42-7, and Sixth-ranked Madison Central (3-0) ended No. 7 Gulfport’s 10-game home winning streak with a 27-23 win.
The eighth-ranked Oxford Chargers (2-1) lost at home to a surprisingly good Grenada team 31-28, and ninth-ranked Pearl (3-0) held on for a 27-20 win over Brookhaven.
Florida commit Kahnen Daniels is a grown man
Fresh off a 240-yard, three-touchdown performance against No. 2 Starkville last week, West Point tailback and University of Florida commit Kahnen Daniels went off again in Friday night’s 50-40 win over the Noxubee County Tigers.
The Green Wave’s star back rushed for 427 yards and six touchdowns on 38 carries and had a fumble return for a touchdown on defense.
Photo by Austin Frayser
In other action
Here are some of the other headlines coming out of Friday night in Mississippi:
- After a week of some of the best trash talk around, the McComb Tigers (3-0) put the screws to the defending 4A South Champion Mendenhall Tigers 56-13.
- Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves was on hand to see the Jackson Prep Patriots (4-0) take down cross-town rival Jackson Academy Raiders (3-1) in a 17-10 slugfest.
- The two-time defending South State Champion Brandon Bulldogs (1-2) got off the snide with a 31-10 win over Clinton after back-to-back losses to No. 5 Picayune and No. 6 Madison Central to open the season.
- The Class 4A South powerhouse Columbia Wildcats doubled up the Class 7A Petal Panthers 42-21.
- The Pascagoula Panthers are off to a 3-0 start after erasing a 21-point deficit to beat Gautier 28-27 in the Singing River Classic.
