By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

GULFPORT — The Gulfport Admirals are heading into the Class 7A state championship game in Starkville against Tupelo on Saturday, riding a 10-game win streak and momentum on both sides of the football.

The Admirals have scored 175 points in their last four games, while giving up only 37 points during the run.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Admirals are led by senior quarterback Parker Nettles, who in his first season at Gulfport, has masterfully met the moment with savvy play-action maneuvering in the pocket and passing precision.

Nettles has amassed 2,522 passing yards, while completing 66 percent of his passes with a 114.3 quarterback rating. He has completed 178 of 269 passes for 22 touchdowns with only six interceptions.

“He is the single-engine that makes it go,” said Admirals coach Blake Pennock of Nettles. He added that having a talented running back like Cooper Crosby drives the offense and opens opportunities for Nettles.

Nettles chimed in on the talent that each player brings to the team: “People call us the dynamic duo. He is a freak. It’s easy for me to play back there when he’s next to me.”

“Having Cooper and having to dedicate so many people to stop him allows us to do all the things in the play-action game and the RBO game that we do,” said Pennock. “It’s a vital thing. Without Parker being able to do those things. It’s a big chess match.

“It’s like peanut butter and jelly,” Pennock explained. “You can’t have one without the other.”

The Admirals’ first possession in the South State Championship game against Brandon last Friday, was a perfect example of the peanut butter and jelly comparison. Crosby was stopped at the line of scrimmage on the first snap. Then, like peanut butter, Nettles spread three passes for gains of 14, 15 and 19 yards, moving the ball to the Brandon 30-yard line. And on the very next play, Crosby jammed through would-be tackle near the line of scrimmage and broke away for the 30-yard score.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said Nettles of the approaching state championship game. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid; playing for a state championship. Glad I can do it my senior year.

“This is really special,” Nettles added. “The work that we put in; the bond we all have. They accepted me when I first came in here. Everybody’s like family here.”

Nettles gave a harbinger of things to come for GHS over the summer when he was recognized at the annual 601 Elite Quarterback “Under the Lights” Camp with the “Top Gun Award”. Nettles transferred in to join the Admirals earlier this year from Silliman Institute High in Clinton, La.
This is the third school in three years for Nettles, who earned Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Class 3A All-State honors at Centerville Academy as a sophomore before transferring to rival Silliman last year.
Parker will wrap up his prep career as a member of the South Squad in the annual Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Game net week back home in Gulfport..