By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
GULFPORT — The drought is over.
Gulfport is headed back to the South State championship round in the prep football playoffs for the first time in 26 years after pounding Petal 45-10 Friday night here at historic Milner Stadium. The win, coming in the Class 7A South State semifinals, extended the Admirals’ win streak to nine straight games and sets up their third consecutive home playoff game in the same season for the first time in 37 years as they are set to host Brandon next week with a berth in the state title tilt on the line.

The decision also meant a measure of revenge for Gulfport over the pesky Panthers, after Petal beat the Admirals in the opening round of the postseason last year as well as two months ago with both games here in this same venue.
“For the last two months I been saying nothing but 1-0,” GHS third-year head coach Blake Pennock, whose team embarked on the current win streak after the 26-25 last second loss to Petal in early September, said. “And I think our guys believe in that, and I think our preparation reflects that and I think our play reflects our preparation. And next week is just that, still 1-0.”
The deadly and dynamic offensive Admiral duo of quarterback Parker Nettles and running back Cooper Crosby were simply too much for the visitors to handle. Nettles, in one of his best efforts in his lone season at Gulfport after transferring from Silliman Institute, completed 10 of 15 passes for 189 yards for two touchdowns and he also added a rushing score.
Meanwhile, Crosby was his normal dominate self as he bowled his way to 147 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns on the ground as well.

“They’ve got a really good football team,” Petal head coach Marcus Boyles said. “They took it to us. I’m proud of our kids, they never quit, but we just couldn’t get anything going on either side of the ball.”
Nettles wasted no time in setting the tone on the evening as he hit Camden Morgan all by himself on a 55-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the game to give Gulfport a quick lead it would never relinquish.
The senior signal-caller was right back at it on the next home team possession, hooking up with Javious Hales in stride for a 57-yard touchdown on a sideline gadget play to make it 14-0 less than mid-way through the opening frame.
The Panthers followed with their only threat of the game, thanks in part to a Nettles throw that was tipped up in the air and intercepted by Panther defender Dashawn Jones, who raced 21-yards for a pick six to cut the deficit to 14-10 later in the quarter.
But Captain Crosby assumed the helm for the Admirals ship, as he returned the ensuing kickoff 46-yards to mid-field and then carried the ball on four of the five plays in the drive capped off by a 4-yard scoring run to give GHS a 21-10 advantage with 1:39 left in the first frame.

The Admirals steadily extended their lead as the second stanza unfolded, thanks to a Carter Platt 28-yard field goal that made it 24-10.
Then, the end came just before halftime when Gulfport defensive lineman Jysavian Causey batted a Petal pass into the air and returned it 20-yards to the Panther three.
A 2-yard run scoring run by Nettles gave Gulfport a commanding 31-10 halftime lead and sent some Panther fans headed for the exits and back north up U.S. Highway 90.
“That was huge,” Boyles said.
After a scoreless third period, Crosby scored on a short run on the first play of the final frame and Cordarious Payton sprinted 65-yards with a punt return to end the scoring.

Petal ends the season at 8-5, after losing three of its final five games of the season.

The last time Gulfport hosted three straight state playoff games in the same season was in 1988.