By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — For the third time in four years, Ocean Springs is headed to the second round of the South State playoffs.
But, this will mark the first time in the new Class 7A.
Trailing at halftime, the Greyhounds took over in the second half thanks to a 17 point third quarter and held off visiting Northwest Rankin 24-17 Friday night at home to open the Class 7A South State playoffs. Ocean Springs, under the direction of second-year head coach Jake Bramlett, will host perennial state power and defending Class 7A state champion Oak Grove next week.

With the win, OSHS moves to 7-4 and the season and the decision helped the Greyhounds earn a measure of revenge over the Cougars who came into Greyhound Stadium nine weeks ago in week three of the regular season and slipped away with a 29-28 win in overtime.
With that last game in mind, Northwest Rankin took a 10-7 lead into halftime in the rematch.
After a scoreless first period, OSHS quarterback Sharroid Whitehead hooked up with wide out Bryshen Smith on a 33-yard completion to the NWR one and Greyhound tailback Will Smith covered that distance on the next play to make it 7-0 home team with 4:42 left in the first half.

With Cougar starting quarterback Gavin Phillipson on the sideline with an injured right ankle, sophomore signal-caller Jett White came in and hit Mario Snell on a 41-yard scoring pass to tie things up at 7-7 at the 3:18 mark.
The visitors then got a 24-yard field goal from Daniel Sherman after an interception with just :20 seconds to play before halftime to take that three point lead into intermission.
The Cougars also got the second half kickoff, but on the first offensive play of the second half a pass fell behind the line of scrimmage and Greyhound defender Lucas Sinopoli picked it up for a scoop and score from 18 yards out and suddenly it was 14-10 OSHS less than :30 seconds into the third frame.

The home team extended that advantage to 17-10 on a 22-yard field goal by Peyton Williams mid-way through the period.
But the Greyhounds weren’t through, as Smith raced 66-yards on a scoring scamper just before the end of the period to make it 24-10 entering the fourth period
Northwest Rankin cut the deficit to 24-17 on a 2-yard scoring plunge by Daniel Watkins with just under five minutes to play.
Greyhound cornerback Conner White sealed the win with an interception with less than two minutes to play.