By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sports Writer

OCEAN SPRINGS –Ocean Springs 5-4 (4-0, district) used a steady offense and a smothering defense to pull ahead of Gulfport 6-3 (3-1, district) in 7A Region 4, holding off the Admirals with a 20-3 win on Friday night.

The Greyhounds didn’t get a first down until their first possession, but when they did, they got a huge play out of junior quarterback Sharroid Whitehead, who broke free for a 42-yard keeper in front of the Greyhound bench down to the Gulfport 16 yardline. That was the beginning of a huge night for Whitehead who would take it in three plays later on a 5-yard keeper for the game’s first score with 1:48 showing on the first quarter clock.

“It took us a little while to figure out what they were wanting to do and how they wanted to play this game, but once we figured it out, and the running game going, it started rolling after that,” said Ocean Springs coach Jake Bramlett.

“I am very pleased with the offensive line, tight ends, running backs and quarterback running the football,” Bramlett added.

Whitehead would finish the game with 130 rushing yards and two touchdowns and a 60-yard passing touchdown. Running back Will Smith would finish with 112 rushing yards on the night.

The 7-0 lead would hold up at halftime, but the Greyhounds came out in the second half and put together a four-play drive with Whitehead carrying twice for gains of 9 and 11 yards before closing the drive with the 60-yard scoring toss to Jax Coleman. The PAT kick failed but the Greyhounds led 13-0, and the Admirals had earned only one first down until that point. They had a second first down that they gained on a penalty.

Gulfport got going on their second possession of the second half as quarterback Dane Sullivan completed three of four passes for gains of 7, 18, and 15 yards. Grayson Tegeder kicked a 28-yard field goal with a minute and a half left in the third quarter.

Gulfport would recover a Greyhounds’ fumble on the first play from scrimmage on their ensuing possession. With the ball at midfield, things looked up for a moment for the Admirals, but the Greyhounds got the ball right back on the very next play as Lucas Sinopoli picked off Sullivan to give the ball right back to the Greyhounds.

The Greyhounds failed to convert on the possession, but their defense went back to their first half tactics, denying the Admirals on their ensuing possession.

From there, the Greyhounds went into race mode with a 26-yard Whitehead keeper on first down, followed by Smith carries of 7 and 6 yards. Whitehead carried for 5 yards, and then, facing a 3rd-and-16, connected with Bryshen Smith for 20 yards to the Gulfport 11-yard line. Whitehead kept it on three consecutive plays for runs of 4, 3, and 3 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the night. Evan Ta closed out the game’s scoring with his second PAT kick of the night.

“The defense played with relentless effort,” said Gulfport coach Blake Pennock. “I thought they did a great job. Obviously, Ocean Springs has a ton of playmakers that you have to account for. Their quarterback played well. But we didn’t do much for them to keep them off the field.

“They’ve got our number right now,” said Pennock. “They deserve all the bragging rights. They played incredibly well against us. We’re just going to have to go to the drawing board during the offseason against this defense.”

Gulfport hosts Harrison Central next week. Ocean Springs travels to St. Martin.