Yahoo Sports Region 4-7A high school football preview: Can Ocean Springs make it four in a row?
Ocean Springs has been untouchable in its own district in recent years.
The Greyhounds are 19-0 in region play over the last three seasons and joins present day Picayune, 2017-19 Gulfport and 2019-2021 Moss Point as recent district three-peaters from the Mississippi Coast.
But Jake Bramlett’s team is now focused on reaching a milestone that hasn’t been touched on the Coast since the Al Jones era George County Rebels: four region titles in a row.
In order to do that, OSHS will have to navigate a schedule that features its former program-runner now in his second season at Gulfport and a Biloxi team loaded with athletes and led by a new championship pedigree coach.
The playoff race within the region promises to be a nail-biter, as well. D’Iberville is hungry to end its first multi-year playoff drought in two decades, Harrison Central has a front seven that is ready to surprise and St. Martin is hoping last season’s trial-by-fire will allow it to catch someone overlooking them in 2024.
Last year’s order of finish
Ocean Springs: 9-2, 5-0
Gulfport: 6-5, 4-1
Biloxi: 6-6, 3-2
Harrison Central: 6-5, 2-3
D’Iberville: 3-7, 1-4
St. Martin: 0-10, 0-5
2024 Region 4-7A preview
Top offensive player
RB Will Smith, Ocean Springs
Smith was the district’s only 1,000-yard rusher last season and found the end zone 20 times. His 1,268 yards were third among returning backs on the Coast and the senior could be even tougher to game plan for with the weapons the Greyhounds have at their disposal in 2024.
Top defensive player
CB Tre’Von Deans, Gulfport
Deans tied for the Coast lead in interceptions with six while suiting up for Harrison Central last season. The senior is up to 10 career picks and is a huge addition for an Admiral secondary that has to replace its top two corners. He will also line up on offense as Gulfport’s No. 2 wide receiver.
Breakout player
ATH Sharroid Whitehead, Ocean Springs
Injuries have hampered and limited Whitehead to prospect camp star status, but all signs point to the junior finally proving himself on Friday nights this fall. Whitehead has offers from numerous power programs already and could add more by the end of the year. He’ll primarily line up at slot receiver, but will be utilized in the backfield, as a returner, in the secondary and even at quarterback.
Ocean Springs
The self-proclaimed “Legion of Zoom” is ready to be unleashed. Smith, Whitehead and receiver Bryhsen Smith will make game planning a nightmare for every defensive coordinator the Greyhounds face. The trio give OS more speed than many could handle and from different parts of the field.
The talent they provide offers some relief to the inexperience the team will have to operate with this season, including breaking in a new starting quarterback in strong-armed lefty Connor White.
But the real challenge and biggest question mark lies on the other side of the ball where Bramlett and defensive coordinator Chase Carmody have to replace 10 starters — including 11 of the top 13 tacklers — from a unit that suffocated offenses in ‘23.
Ocean Springs does have a disruptive pair of defensive linemen who combined for 20 tackles for loss a year ago in Bryant Ausmer and Ricky Orso to work around.
Similar to last season, the Greyhounds are preparing for district play and beyond with a brutal non-region schedule that features Madison Central, Oak Grove and Picayune.
Gulfport
Blake Pennock’s first season produced the Admiral’s highest scoring offense since 2013 and the best defense since 2017, but an 0-3 record in one-score games led to the team’s lowest win total in three seasons and a short stay in the playoffs.
Now he must replace his starting quarterback — who was also his leading rusher — top three receivers and three all-region offensive linemen. And that’s just on offense. Gulfport also loses four of its top five tacklers and 10 of the top 13.
But Pennock refers to this season as the true year one. While last season’s focus was on winning as many games as possible for the senior-heavy team, Pennock and staff are excited about the development ahead for the players who spent “year zero” growing within the program.
That starts with Pennock’s new starting quarterback Dane Sullivan, a high IQ game manager with a baseball arm and a strong grasp of the offense. He’ll be protected by three new starters up front, but is flanked by an experienced running back duo the Admirals will be relying on heavily in Dakoreyon Payton and Cooper Crosby. Pennock also expects Krisjeohn Burks to have a breakout season at wide receiver and import Deans will be an athletic boon as a two-way talent.
The Admiral defense will have plenty of turnover, but Christian Hughes and Andre Peters are back to anchor the front seven. And despite the loss of three starters, the addition of Deans and rising athleticism has Pennock pointing to the secondary as one of the strongest units on the team.
Like its rival to the East, GHS will be put through the wringer early with games against Madison Central, Brandon and Picayune.
Biloxi
The Indians are standing on the most solid foundation the program has ever had thanks to the work of Katlan French. Biloxi just finished top-three in its district in back-to-back years for the very first time and has reached the postseason four of the last five years for the first time.
Now three-time state champion Jamey DuBose steps in after compiling a 146-51 record as an Alabama high school coach and inherits the most experienced roster in the region. Biloxi has a dearth of talent at the skill positions and have key pieces on every level of its defense.
The Indians return each of their top three running backs, including the dynamic Jaylan Johnson, and top receivers Tristan Haynes and Jalen Anderson. Just how explosive this group will be hinges on how improved the offensive line is and who steps into the shoes of departed quarterback Zach Marlin.
Linebackers Coleman Gazzo and Jaquan Thompson plus defensive lineman Alfredo Mejias give the Indians strong footing up the middle of their defense. They’re flanked by an athletic secondary led by Anderson and Darrion Perkins.
Expectations have rarely been higher on Tribe Drive. A three-game stretch consisting of George County, Hattiesburg and Pascagoula will prepare BHS for district play.
Harrison Central
The Red Rebels doubled their win total and returned to the playoffs last year. The keys have now been handed over to the promoted Nekemia Rich following Tony Myers’ two-season tenure and there’s work to do to rebuild the identity on offense.
Harrison Central loses its quarterback-wide receiver battery in Tri Gaughf and Tyree Barnett and its top offensive lineman John McCorvey. The other side of the line of scrimmage is a different story, though. Few teams in South Mississippi will be able to field a linebacker duo as potent as Boone Wilson and Marlos Walker.
They’re joined in the middle by Jayden Taylor, creating what may be the most formidable linebacker corps on the Coast with a trio bringing a combined 428 career tackles into 2024. Ahead of them are all-region defensive linemen Arterious Dixon and Nick Strickland. The latter is coming off a freshman season where he reached opposing quarterbacks seven times.
Despite key losses in the secondary, the Red Rebels still have experience in Remi Hopkins, Josiah Vaughn and Dylan Perryman. In total, HCHS has nine starters returning on defense and expects significant improvement from a year ago.
Rich will have the athletic Jorden Anderson to stuff touches to on offense and an offensive line that does bring back multiple starters. Despite staff and talent turnover, the Red Rebels appear poised to compete for the playoffs once again.
D’Iberville
D’Iberville will be battling out of a place it is largely unfamiliar with as a program. The Warriors are coming off back-to-back losing seasons for the time in over a decade, have allowed north of 350 total points in two straight years for the first time ever and just gave up a program-worst 36.4 points per game in ‘23.
Josh Ladner is heading into year three and is hoping a change of leadership on defense will spark a turnaround. Ladner brought in Neil Broussard as his new defensive coordinator over the offseason and made several staff changes under him.
Broussard was the architect of a St. Martin defense that allowed just 17.8 points a game in 2018. Broussard’s presence has energized the defense, according to Ladner, and moving TJ Jasper from running back to free safety has given DHS an instant boost in talent on the back end. Jarimyah Owens also moved from offensive line to middle linebacker and has stepped into a key leadership role.
It’s no secret who DHS will turn to with the football. Andre Crosby is an easy candidate for a breakout campaign at running back and he’s been drawing next-level interest throughout the offseason.
The offense’s collective strength will hinge on how well the front five can move bodies, however. Though the two returning starters are good ones — Caleb Gollott and Robert Vuyovich — the other three spots along the line will be filled by first-time varsity starters.
St. Martin
The Yellow Jackets slogged through a winless season that saw only a single one-score game in ‘23. The two-deep was full of freshmen and sophomores and the team even started an eighth grader at quarterback against Ocean Springs.
But third-year coach Ty Smith says his program has had the best offseason of his tenure and the brutal trials his underclassmen went through a year ago have given the Yellow Jackets a lot of experience despite still being a very young team in ‘24.
St. Martin has seven returning starters on defense and most of them are still only juniors. The seniors the unit does have in linebacker Noel Estrada, defensive lineman Romane Grant and safety Preston Biggs make up a solid core that Smith hopes will translate to better competitiveness and more opportunities to raise the program’s long term prospects.
The Yellow Jackets are hitting the reset button on offense, though. Smith has made a significant change by giving up control of the offense and letting former St. Stanislaus coach Tim Lala run the show. Just three starters return for Lala and gone is current Ole Miss receiver Noreel White.
Stepping into White’s place is the dynamic and speedy Monclaire Brave, who will line up at wide receiver and defensive back. Pascagoula transfer Kevin Marshall is an athletic sophomore that the staff likes at quarterback and freshman Seth Crockett is a multi-positional backfield piece who earned varsity reps as an eighth grader.
Though Smith admits his roster isn’t quite ready yet and hints at another development season ahead, the Marshall-Crockett pairing give him and his staff plenty of reason to be excited about the future.
