By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director
Gulfport and Tupelo have never met on the football field.
But all that will change Saturday night in Starkville.
The Admirals and Golden Wave will tangle for the first-time ever in the Class 7A state championship contest at 7 p.m., in Davis-Wade Stadium on the campus of Mississippi State University.
Gulfport is 11-2 and on a 10-game win streak, while Tupelo has won nine straight games and stands an impressive 13-1 overall. The Golden Wave is also the defending state champs, and has won 27 out of their past 28 games after going 14-0 en route to that Gold Ball last year.

While GHS standout senior running back Cooper Crosby was running for 188 yards and four touchdowns in a 40-7 thumping of visiting Brandon Friday night, Tupelo also picked up a win at home but in much different fashion.
The Golden Wave overcame a 13-point halftime deficit and held on for a 21-20 win over Oxford in the Class 7A North half title game on Friday to set up the first-ever meeting with the Admirals.
Tupelo shut out Oxford in the second half to continue its quest for back-to-back championships.
“We were finding a way to lose the game in the first half, and we put ourselves in that hole,” Tupelo head coach Ty Hardin said. “Credit for them for taking advantage of our mistakes. But, second half, our kids just looked in the mirror at halftime. Our kids do a good job of self-ownership and just proud of them responding second half.”
Tupelo got 102 yards rushing and two touchdown from running back Kylan Bobo, including a 28-yard scoring scamper with 7:45 left in the game to complete the comeback and give Tupelo a 21-20 lead.

Tupelo was led by senior stalwart running back/wildcat quarterback and “Class 7A Mr. Football” J.J. Hill, who rushed for 172 yards, one touchdown on 23 carries.
Hill, in fact, got the Golden Wave back on track with his scoring run to start the second half. The Golden Wave was without quarterback Braylen Willliams due to injury for most of the second half, with Hill filling in.
Tupelo’s defense came up with key stops late in the game, including a sack of Oxford quarterback Knox Kiffen that resulted in a fumble late in the fourth quarter to give Tupelo the bal back. The Golden Wave then ran the clock out to seal the win.

Tupelo out-gained Oxford 385-190 in the game, with 336 of those yards coming on the ground.
Golden Wave linebacker Kaiden Buchanan registered seven tackles and a pair of sacks.

In the past 75 years of prep football in the state of Mississippi, Tupelo has only played one other “Southern Six” squad. In the 1991 Class 5A state championship game, Moss Point beat the Golden Wave 42-12 at Robinson-Hale Stadium in Clinton on the Campus of Mississippi College.