By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

GULFPORT — The Gulfport High offensive line gets the “Baria Law Firm Game Ball of the Week” as presented by SouthMiss6 Sports this week.

Every week throughout the end of the school year, we will honor student/athletes across the “Southern Six” with our “Game Ball of the Week” sponsored by David Baria, Attorney-Mediator.

The Admiral offensive line unit played a key role Saturday night as Gulfport won its first-ever state championship in thrilling fashion 21-20 over Tupelo in Starkville at Davis-Wade Stadium on the campus of Mississippi State University.

That staring group over the weekend consisted of tight end Cooper Gouin, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior, along with interiors lineman Jacoby Ray, a 6-foot-1, 285-pound senior, Jamarion Moses, a 5-fooot-11, 255-pound senior, Bruce Davis, a 5-foot-11, 266-pound junior, Christian Scruggs, a 6-foot, 355-pound senior and Malachi Smith, a 6-foot-1, 279-pound junior.

“They say the coast isn’t physical, but I can say that Gulfport football is physical.” GHS head coach Blake Pennock said, after the most important win on the gridiron in school history.

The solid six man contingent helped GHS roll up 380 yards of total offense in the title tilt, and also helped the Admirals pretty much dominant the first half of the game on the ground.

They opened hols all night for GHS standout senior running back Cooper Crosby, who earned the Most Valuable Player award after running for 168 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.

“We played well offensively and Cooper ran the ball wel,” Pennock added.

In addition, on the game-winning drive in the final minute the offensive line kept Admiral quarterback Parker Nettles clean and safe in the pocket as he ended regulation with a 34-yard scoring strike to wide-out Mylan Stubbs. The protection by the GHS O-line also played an instrumental role in allowing Nettles to post impressive production numbers of 288 yards passing on an 11-for-19 performance and the one score.

That Gulfport offensive line was also in the forefront of a spectacular three game offensive explosion in the Class 7A South State playoffs leading up to the state finals in which Gulfport scored 40 or more points in three straight contests against the always powerful Region 3-7A bunch with a 45-7 win over Northwest Rankin, a 45-10 decision over Petal and a 40-7 win over Brandon.

The Admirals ended the season with a program record 12 wins in an historic 12-2 campaign that included reeling off 11 straight wins to end the season after starting th year off at 1-2.

The Baria Law Firm, the Gulf Coast branch of Cosmich, Simmons and Brown, provides a beacon of trust and reliability in a complex legal landscape. Our firm’s unwavering dedication to you is at the core of everything we do. Choose David Baria of Baria Law as your legal ally, and let us handle the details while you focus on what matters most. Reach out to David at 228-395-8303 or dbaria@barialaw.com and at https://barialaw.com.