For the fourth year in a row, the Gulfport Admirals (7-4) ended their season in the first round of the state playoffs on Friday.
After falling behind early to Petal, Gulfport tied the game with 3:44 left in the Class 7A contest before the Panthers won 20-17 on a 25-yard field goal at Milner Stadium. Two different halves told two different stories offensively.
The Admirals were held to 26 yards in the first two quarters with only 2 yards rushing and did not have a single possession past midfield. A conversion of only one first down and three penalties affected each series.
Defensively, the Admirals remained strong with three leading tacklers coming from the line (Javon Anderson, Malachi Bullard and Lawrence Robertson) combining for 10 tackles.
The Panthers (8-4) committed two turnovers on downs in the red zone during the first half.
The scoring summary
While neither team crossed the goal line in the first quarter, Petal running back Chavez Walker dove in from 2 yards out after a 10-play drive with 9:51 left in the first half.
The Panthers conveniently ran the time of possession down with 10 first downs, despite only scoring once and finishing with 138 total yards in the half.
Coming out of the gates for the third quarter, Petal marched the ball down the field before freshman Acely Brown ran through the middle for 40 yards with 4:43 left in the quarter. After the extra point, the Panthers took a 14-0 lead, but it was the last touchdown for the Petal.
The Admirals woke up as quarterback Dane Sullivan found wide receiver Tre’Von Deans on a post route for a 66-yard score with 3:14 left in the quarter.
Again, the Panthers were methodical, marching down the field and settling for a 28-yard field goal by Sam Haydel with 10:41 left in the game.
Gulfport countered with a field goal by Grayson Tegeder with 7:04 left after a long Admirals drive.
With Petal turning the ball over on downs and 4:20 left on the game clock, Sullivan found running back Cooper Crosby on a flat route that he broke for 69 yards and a touchdown. After the extra point, the game was tied at 17 with 3:44 left.
Finally, Petal drove the ball down the field and Haydel clinched the 20-17 victory on his field goal with 30 seconds left.
The numbers never lie
Sullivan finished with 223 yards passing and two touchdowns. For the season, he threw for 1,722 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Crosby led the Admirals with 102 total yards and a touchdown while surpassing 1,000 yards (1,040) for the season and finishing with 16 touchdowns for the year.
Andre Peters led the Admirals in tackles, not only for the game (seven), but had 81 for the season. Anderson had one tackle for loss, ending the year with 12 TFLs.
Gulfport coach Blake Pennock completes his second year with a 7-4 record and is 13-9 overall with the Admirals. After coaching three teams in six years on the Coast, Pennock is 53-18.
