By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

GULFPORT — The Gulfport Admirals (11-2) are on a 10-game win streak as they head into the Class 7A High School Football championship game against Tupelo on Saturday night in Starkville.

The Admirals have not lost a game since September 19th, a 1-point squeaker to Petal, 25-24. The defense has grown own up and has come together since that lost, and it the evidence is in their rematch against Petal on November 14, as it denied the Panthers in a 45-10 win in the second round of the playoffs.

And there is a shipload of evidence surrounding the Admirals’ defensive prowess. During that 10-game win streak the Admirals have outscored their opponents by a margin of 306 points, allowing their opponents a meager 118 points, while the Admirals put up 424 points.

In the last four games, the Admirals as a team put up 175 points while giving up only 37 points.

“I feel really good about the way we’ve been playing defense for the last several months,” said Admirals’ coach Blake Pennock. “Our guys continue to prepare in the right way, and they keep doing things.

“The thing that helps you is you’re playing your best football at the right moment,” said Pennock. “I don’t think that we can play any better than we are now, and I keep saying that each and every week, and yet, we continue to play better than that. I tell our guys all the time that they amaze me after each game.”

Tupelo is riding a 9-game win streak, so, they will also be heading into Starkville with some momentum. They will challenge the Admirals with a rushing attack led by two-time Class 7A Mr. Football J.J. Hill, who has rushed for 1705 yards and 17 touchdowns on the season.

The Golden Wave’s rushing attack is complimented by Hill’s backfield mate Kylan Bobo, who stepped up when Hill played quarterback during the first half of the season. Bobo rushed for 1672 yards and 27 touchdowns this season.

So, the challenge for the Admirals’ defense is going to be to beat the Golden Wave at the line of scrimmage, and to slow down the Hill-Bobo one-two punch before they can get downhill.

“We’ve just got to keep playing how we’ve been playing,” said senior middle linebacker Andre Peters. “We have to continue to play sound gaps, play dominant, fast and physical. And, we have to execute at the high level that we know we can.”

“This is going to be a huge test,” said Pennock. “We won’t have faced this many Division One guys at the same time, which Tupelo will have. We have to do a good job on every single player, or they can take one to the house.”

Peters has been the spearhead of the GHS defense for the past few seasons, and leads the Admiral defensive unit once again this season with 144 total tackles. He will wrap up his prep football career next week as a member of his home state team in the prestigious Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Football Classic.

His fellow linebacker Deandre Williams has also topped the century mark in total stops with 102 total tackles, and Williams and defensive lineman Lawrence Robertson each have registered seven sacks on the season. Robertson also has a team-high 20 tackles for loss, while Williams has 19 stops in that category and Peters 17. Another linebacker, Carlton Crandle, has 68 total tackles.

Up front, Robertson’s fellow lineman Javon Anderson leads GHS with seven and a half sacks and he has 58 total tackles including 19 tackles for loss. He also has recovered five fumbles.

Back deep in the secondary, Javious Hales leads the Admirals with four interceptions and he returned two of those for touchdowns. Defensive back Pierre Felder tops the secondary with 68 total tackles.

“We’re challenging ourselves,” said Peters. “They have a few athletes that can make-shake if we give them the opportunity. We’re challenging ourselves to stay disciplined.”