By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — There aren’t many certainties in life.

But the Ocean Springs football team has certainly found one recently.

And that is that it’s almost certain that if a team doesn’t lose a region game in a season, said team is guaranteed to win that region. And the Greyhounds have been doing just that for almost five straight years now.

Ocean Springs enters the upcoming campaign on a 24-game league win streak, dating back to the regular season finale in 2020. The Greyhounds have also won 28 out of their last 30 region contests dating back to the last week of September in that 2020 season.

“It’s just part of the culture that we’re building here and what our expectations are year in and year out,” OSHS head coach Jake Bramlett said, in a recent interview. “Yes, it’s great to win region championships and that puts you in the best spot to get to the playoffs but our ultimate goal is to be playing in the last game of the year.”

And, despite their recent region dominance, that’s something that OSHS has done just once in program history and that was 21 years ago when the Greyhounds fell to South Panola 39-21 in the Class 5A state championship game.

However, Ocean Springs has played in two out of the past three South State championships, falling to Brandon both times at home, including a 31-13 thumping by the Bulldogs last year.

As the Greyhounds aim to return to those lofty heights again this year, they’ll get eight starters back on offense and six on defense.

Bramlett will look to versatile senior standout Sharroid Whitehead to lead an effective offensive unit. Whitehead has been a difference maker for OSHS since his sophomore season.

As a junior last season, Whitehead produced 1,061 rushing yards with 160 carries and 13 touchdowns and added 669 passing yards and eight scores. The three-star recruit has offers from Baylor, Florida State, Penn State and Georgia among others at this point.

And even through he stepped into the role as the full-time quarterback mid-way through last season after seeing time elsewhere in the backfield and on the wing as well, he’s set to reprise his role by spending time both behind center and at running back this season.

When Whitehead isn’t the signal-caller, sophomore Chalmers Berglind is expected to fill that role.

The Greyhounds will look to tight end Hayden Berglind and wide out Ian Harlan in the passing game, as well as new running back Solomon Baggett, a transfer from Gautier, in the backfield.

Up front, OSHS will rely on four returning starters on the offensive line, including recent Mississippi State commit Jayden Ross. The massive 6-foot-5, 315-pound Ross heads into his senior season also had offers from Baylor, Colorado and Texas Tech among others. He has been a main source of protection for an explosive OSHS offensive attack over the past few seasons and looks to close his career in the same capacity this season.

On defense, linebacker Jacolby Bailey finished with 83 solo stops last season as a sophomore with 115 total tackles, including 12 tackles for a loss. He also finished with one interception and five pass deflections while forcing three fumbles and recovering two fumbles.

In the secondary, cornerback Eric Johnson collected 14 pass breakups and he had three interceptions and a fumble recovery.

As Bramlett enters his third season at the helm of the Greyhounds, a campaign which kicks off Thursday on the road in an historic match-up with Meridian, there seems to be just one final destination in mind for both him and his Greyhounds.

“They’re trying to get over that hump, and that hump is getting to the state championship game and winning the state championship.” Bramlett added. “We talked about that in December after the loss to Brandon and we talked about it in January when we came back. We reiterated it in the spring. It’s one focus, and that’s getting to December and getting to the final game, and this group wants nothing short of that.”