For most of the season, the Gulfport Admirals have been a dominant second-half football team, and they met that high standard on Friday night.
After just a 14-13 first-half lead at Milner Stadium, the Admirals (5-2 overall, 2-0 in the region) had 134 second-half rushing yards and forced three turnovers to beat the D’Iberville Warriors 38-19.
Running back Cooper Crosby led the Gulfport surge, finishing with 132 combined yards (112 rushing, 20 receiving) and three touchdowns on the ground. Dakoreyan Payton wasn’t far behind with 122 yards (53 rushing, 69 receiving), 14 touches and a touchdown.
The scoring summary
On the first play of the game, Gulfport attempted a flea-flicker as quarterback Dane Sullivan threw it deep, but D’Iberville all-purpose player Jordan Walley intercepted the pass near midfield.
After a long drive, Warriors running back Jeremiah Butler scored a touchdown from 3 yards out with 7:35 left in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. The extra point was missed.
The Admirals quickly drove down the field before Crosby crossed the goal line with 3:59 left in the quarter and the extra point by Grayson Tegeder gave Gulfport a 7-6 lead.
D’Iberville (3-4, 0-2) countered with a long drive that resulted in Walley’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Malakai Knight for a 13-7 Warriors lead with 2:42 left in the first half.
Gulfport answered with Sullivan finding wide receiver Krisjeohn Burks on a 9-yard dig route for a touchdown with 1:15 left in the half. The extra point put Gulfport ahead 14-13 and the Admirals never looked back.
The Admirals defense forced a turnover on downs with 8:28 left in the third quarter and Gulfport went to business. Gulfport outscored the Warriors 24-7 in the next 20 minutes on touchdowns by Crosby (two) and Payton and a 27-yard field goal by Tegeder.
Even though D’Iberville had a touchdown run by Jayquan Havard to start the fourth quarter, the offense had a fumble and turnover on downs, sealing Gulfport’s victory.
The numbers never lie
Gulfport finished with 391 yards of total offense but allowed D’Iberville 318 yards, including 251 rushing.
Sullivan led the Admirals offense with 22 completions on 29 attempts for 213 yards and one touchdown. His main target was Burks, who caught 11 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Gulfport got Christian Hughes back and he wreaked havoc with eight tackles and a sack. Linebacker Andre Peters led the team with nine tackles and Trentin Pettis had three tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
Walley was all over the place for the Warriors, completing 7-of-11 passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns and picking up seven tackles along with an interception.
Havard and Andre Crosby had a combined 224 yards and one score.
Next up
Gulfport will play its homecoming game against St. Martin on Oct. 25.
A victory can guarantee the Admirals their fourth consecutive state playoff berth and ninth in 10 years.
D’Iberville, seeking its first region win, will play Harrison Central at Warrior Stadium on Oct. 25.
