Oak Grove completes turnaround with state title win against Homer

NEW ORLEANS – Oak Grove High school is familiar with playing for state football championships.

It had won two of them in the last three seasons going into its Division IV Non-Select championship match-up Thursday.

It had won six of them in 11 appearances in the title game since 1964.

The Tigers (12-3) made it three in four seasons and seven overall when they defeated Homer 17-0 in the Caesars Superdome.

But this one was special.

Oak Grove prevailed over the defending state champion Pelicans (10-2) with a dominant defensive performance led by Most Outstanding Player Kam Franklin, an Oklahoma State commit who had 12 tackles, one for loss, a fumble recovery and an interception with a 43-yard return.

“This might be the most impressive run we’ve had,” Oak Grove head coach Ryan Gregory said, “and that’s saying something.”

It’s saying something because at mid-season the Tigers did not look like a team that would be playing in December. But the dominant defensive performance Thursday was consistent with the team’s turnaround during the second half of the season.

The Tigers were 3-3 after a 28-21 loss at Haynesville on October 7.

After that game Gregory sat outside the visitors locker room with a few of the leaders on his team. They discussed the status of their season.

“We said we were going to come back (to Haynesville) and play them again,” Gregory said, “and when we do we’ll be a different team.”

Eventually they proved to be prophetic, but it took a lot of work to turn the prophecy into reality.

Gregory and his staff went about transforming the team by returning to “the basics.” They emphasized “swarming to the football” on defense and ball security on offense.

“We became more physical at the point of attack on both sides of the line of scrimmage,” Gregory said. “It sounds elementary but we ratcheted up the intensity in practice. That was the turning point.”

Oak Grove allowed an average of 31.7 points in its first six games, then won its last four regular-season games by an average score of 51-12.

On Thursday it shut out a Pelicans team that had averaged 45 yards per game in the playoffs.

“Our ability to play complementary football is all about (the defense) swarming to the football,” Gregory said.

Even with the strong finish to the regular season, the Tigers were seeded just eighth. They drew a first-round match-up with No. 25 Centerville, followed by a 10-win Welsh team and road games against No. 1 seed Kentwood and a rematch with No. 5 Haynesville.

“When we saw the draw we knew it was going to be tough,” Gregory said. “These guys didn’t bat an eye. They embraced it. In fact it looked like they were excited by it.”

They won their first two games 52-8 and 35-14 before upsetting Kentwood 20-14. Then came the predicted rematch with Haynesville and they were indeed a different team, rolling to a 48-7 win.

The formula that produced the turnaround and subsequent surge worked again Thursday.

“We were going to lean on the run,” said quarterback Jackson Bradley, who rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Decorian Freeman added 128 rushing yards and a touchdown. The defense allowed a total of just 186 yards.

Franklin made his interception after Homer had reached the Oak Grove 32 in the second quarter. The Pelicans’ last chance to get back in the game ended with a fumble at the Tigers’ 10 when the score was 10-0 with 9:55 left in the game.

“It’s hard to come back from those types of turnovers,” Homer coach Richie Casey said. “We’ve preached all year that you can’t hang your heads, but it’s hard to overcome.”

The Penguins also had a critical turnover on downs on the first possession of the game. Casey decided to go for fourth and one at the Homer 41, and Franklin and Landon Ferrell stopped Gregory Williams for no gain.

Six plays later Freeman ran 25 yards for the only points Oak Grove would need.

“My experience as a coach has always been that in order to make a push you have to get better every week,” Gregory said. “This team is proof of that.”