Wild 6A championship comes down to the wire
HATTIESBURG — Four years before he hoisted the first trophy in the history of Horn Lake football, head coach Brad Boyette asked a group of eighth grade boys a question.
The boys had assembled at the football field for middle school team picture day. Boyette had watched them play for two years. Even then, he saw talent, and he saw determination to win. He thought, maybe, those boys could win a state title.
“To be a champion, you have to work like a champion,” Boyette told them. “Are you willing to work like a champion?" “Yes,” the boys responded. Friday night, those same boys wandered the field in celebratory disbelief. Almost men now, they had won the MHSAA 6A state championship game, beating No. 8 Oak Grove 31-27, capturing the first title at a school that had never advanced past the second round of the playoffs before this season.
“The happiness I have for these guys is like nothing I've ever felt,” Boyette said.
Though No. 3 Horn Lake (15-0) gave up six more points than it had in any game this season, its defense sealed the victory at the end of a game that saw three lead changes in the second half.
Down by four, Oak Grove (12-3) retook possession at its 9-yard line with just under three minutes left. It drove to midfield with a 42-yard pass on third down, but two plays later, Horn Lake defensive back Drew Leverson intercepted a deep pass by quarterback John Rhys Plumlee.
“If I catch this ball my team is going to win,” Leverson said. “I was really scared. I had to make this play.”
Before the game, Horn Lake’s players agreed if Leverson caught two interceptions, he got to punch star linebacker Nakobe Dean in the face. Leverson only caught one, but that interception won a state title.
A minute later, quarterback Raydarious Jones, the game’s MVP for throwing two touchdowns and gaining 258 total yards, took a knee to end the game and start a delirious celebration.
Boyette hugged his wife. Junior lineman Josiah Hayes grabbed his head. Players lifted each other. Some of the winners cried.
“I love this team,” said Dean, a senior. “I love this team.”
Then there was Oak Grove, and Plumlee, and a team that had reached the state title game after missing the playoffs the last two years. Oak Grove had pushed through injuries to its toptwo receivers, its starting running back and its starting safety to reach this point. Its fans packed one side of Southern Miss’ M.M. Roberts Stadium, hoping the Warriors would win their second state championship.
“I’ll walk away feeling great about our football team,” Oak Grove head coach Drew Causey said. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the outcome we wanted tonight but I wouldn’t trade these kids for anybody. They’re unbelievable.”
Lost in Horn Lake’s win, Plumlee passed for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Horn Lake expected him to run the ball. Instead, Plumlee sat back and picked apart the defense. He played inside a clean pocket most of the game, until Horn Lake shifted into defensive looks it hadn’t used this season. One of them — cover 2 — resulted in the closing interception.
For years, even before Boyette's question to them, Horn Lake's senior class told each other they would win state. Whenever the football team went to basketball games and saw the school's championship banners hanging in the gym, Dean said, “We've got to get one.”
Horn Lake built on Boyette's question, going from 2-10 three years ago to a second-round playoff exit last year. The players started to believe they could win state during summer practices. Then they won every game.
“Horn Lake has been a bottom feeder for so long,” senior center Hunter Berryman said. “We want this year to be the start of something new. We need to be expected to win state instead of it being a surprise.”
After Horn Lake accepted its trophy, the team huddled for a group photo. Boyette sat cross-legged in the front, surrounded by players he believed in before they ever reached high school.
A few minutes earlier, he had been asked how it felt to win the first state championship in school history.
“Say that one more time,” Boyette said. “6A state champions.”