By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — What a difference a year makes.

Not to mention a new head coach.

After going on the road to open the season last year and claiming an impressive 35-0 shutout win over Meridian, the Wildcats repaid the debt Thursday night.

In new head coach Tony Vance’s first outing at Meridian, the Wildcats pounded OSHS in Greyhound Stadium 47-9 to kick off the new season.

Meridian led almost inexplicably 41-3 at the end of the third quarter, implementing the running clock. It marked the biggest loss for Ocean Springs at home since a 42-0 win by Gulfport to end the 2001 season.

“We’re young in a lot of spots, and things just got away from us early,” OSHS head coach Jake Bramlett said. “We didn’t execute at some key times on both sides of the ball. We’ve got a lot to work on and a lot to fix, but we have to move forward and get ready for next week.”

The Wildcats jumped out to an almost stunning 21-3 lead at halftime.

Meridian tailback Grant Hill scored twice on 3-yard plunges, once on the first series of the game for the Wildcats to cap off a 14-play 82-yard drive, and then again on the final MHS drive of the second stanza,.

In between, Meridian quarterback Cordarrin Wilson hooked up with wide out Chase Gathings on a 16-yard scoring strike at the 2:48 mark of the first frame.

That score came less than a minute after Hill’s first scoring scamper and after Meridian fell on a fumbled kickoff by the Greyhounds on the ensuing kickoff.

The Meridian offense wasn’t the entire story in the first half, as its defensive unit also stood tall on several occasions.

In fact, OSHS twice ventured into the red zone, but came away with only a 36-yard field goal by Evan Ta to result in the 18-point count at intermission.

That boot came after OSHS had a first-and-goal at the Meridian two yard line.

Ta also missed a 35-yarder after the Greyhounds entertained a first down at the Meridian 19.

“A lot of just shooting ourselves in the foot in that first half,” Bramlett added.

Conditions didn’t improve for the home team as the third quarter unfolded.

Hill tallied his third short rushing score of the night just over two minutes into the second half to end Meridian’s first possession of the new frame to make it 28-3

Then, after a lost fumble as well as an interception by OSHS quarterback Chalmers Berglind the next two times the Greyhounds had the ball, the Wildcats made it 41-3 on a 14-yard scoring run by Hill and a 4-yard one from Tony Thames and the game was basically done then.

Berglind scored the only touchdown of the game for OSHS with a 1-yard keeper

Hill, the younger brother of former Meridian High standout and current Alabama running back Daniel Hill, finished the night with those five touchdowns and a game-high 167 yards rushing

Ocean Springs heads to Petal next looking for its first win.