From Staff and Wire Reports:

Saturday night, Gulfport will play for the state football championship just for just the second time in program history.

The Admirals face the Tupelo in the Class 7A state tile match-up here at Davis-Wade Stadium on the campus of Mississippi State University. The Golden Wave is the defending Class 7A state champs, and has won 27-out-of its past 28 games heading into this one.

Gulfport’s only other trip to the state championship round since the implementation of a state-wide playoff system in the state came 43 years ago in 1982, when the Admirals fell to West Point 21-14 at historic Ray Stadium in Meridian.

Let’s take a quick glance at the big game:

TUPELO (13-1) vs. GULFPORT (11-2)

Kickoff: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Gulfport Admirals

Head Coach: Blake Pennock

State Championships: None.

State Championship Appearances: 1982.

Players to Watch: QB Parker Nettles (East Mississippi CC commit, 2,522 yards passing, 22 touchdowns, 2 rushing touchdowns); RB Cooper Crosby (1,631 yards rushing, 32 touchdowns, 609 yards receiving, 7 touchdowns); WR Javious Hales (703 yards receiving, 3 touchdowns); LB Andre Peters (144 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery); DL Lawrence Robertson (81 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 7 sacks); DE Javon Anderson (58 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 4 pass break-ups).

How they got here: def. Northwest Rankin 45-7; def. Petal 45-10; def. Brandon 40-7.

Points Per Game (Avg.): 38.0.

Points Allow Per Game (Avg.): 15.1.

“Just an exciting time for us and this was the vision when I got here three years ago,” Pennock said. “We’ve gotten really hot and have played well the last two and a half months. Offensively, we’re executing at a high level, and executing the right way and being physical up front. Defensively, we’ve made key plays and gotten stops and have given up one touchdown in the playoffs. Tupelo is a whole another animal and they catch your eye quick, they’re so talented and big up front. J.J. is a special player and the QB can take it the distance at any point. They’ve been in this game before, so we’ve got to handle the moment and just play our style of football because it will be a physical game. Execute the game plan and prevent the big play.”

Tupelo Golden Wave

Head Coach: Ty Hardin

State Championships: 2024, 1992.

State Championship Appearances: 2024, 2013, 1992, 1991, 1990.

Players to Watch: RB J.J. Hill (Class 7A Mr. Football, Mississippi State commit, 1,705 yards rushing, 15 touchdowns, 104 yards passing, 1 touchdown, 1 receiving touchdown); RB Kylan Bobo (1,672 yards rushing, 27 touchdowns, 106 yards receiving, 1 touchdown); QB Braylen Williams (629 yards rushing, 10 touchdowns, 311 yards passing, 4 touchdowns); LB Devontray Brewer (103 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks); DL JaReylan McCoy (Florida commit, 56 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 2 blocked punts, 1 forced fumble); DB Iverson McCoy (Ole Miss commit, 73 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles).

How they got here: def. Starkville 28-10; def. Germantown 35-28; def. Oxford 21-20.

Points Per Game (Avg.): 33.6.

Points Allow Per Game (Avg.): 14.1.

“We’re blessed to get to play football this week, and we’re battle-tested.” Hardin said. “It’s been a different type of journey to get here, we haven’t played a complete game yet and the target has been on our back all season and getting everyone’s best shot. We had to win games in different ways in games that we got behind. Gulfport is a very hot team right now and have thumped their last few opponents, so we’ve got to start better than we have. Both teams are good at the line of scrimmage and similar athlete wise, so whoever runs the ball better will win the game. We were in this game last year, so hopefully that will help, but field position is going to be key, so we got to take advantage when the opportunity presents itself to score points.”