HATTIESBURG — When Antoinne Adkins intercercepted Oak Grove's James McMahon on the second play of the game Friday and returned it to the Warrior 10, it was a painful sign of things to come for Meridian — so close, and yet unable to capitalize.
The Wildcats, the reigning Class 5A state champions, saw their title run come to an end in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs at Warrior Field, 42-28, thanks to turnovers and missed opportunities. Meridian ends its season 11-2, while the 10-2 Warriors will face Ocean Springs next week for the South State championship.
"Boy, we had some chances," Meridian coach Larry Weems said. "When you get two really good teams going at each other, and you get this late in the year, and you get those chances, you have to make them pay.
"You better make very few mistakes and take advantage of them, or you come up short."
Those missed chances came from the start. After Adkins' pick at the Oak Grove 36 and subsequent return to the 10, the Wildcats' offense scuffled. Following three runs that advanced the ball to the Warrior 4, Adkins' fourth-down pass to Jamiee Clayton resulted in a 4-yard loss and turnover on downs.
"I really wish we would have converted early," Weems added. "We had that great opportunity early, and we didn't get points."
Meridian would add two more missed chances inside the Oak Grove red zone in the second half, as the Warriors pulled away from a 21-21 halftime tie.
The Wildcats received the second-half kickoff and promptly marched to the Warrior 18 behind the legs of Adkins and running back Kenya Roberts. However, once again, Meridian's offense bogged down. Following two runs that netted no yards, Adkins threw incomplete to Jordan Lenton and Clayton.
Then, trailing 28-21 after Oak Grove turned an Adkins fumble into a 28-yard touchdown pass from McMahon to Jonathan Duncan, the Wildcats again moved right back into Oak Grove territory on the ground. Meridian rushed for 288 yards on 48 carries, led by Roberts' 145 yard on 17 attempts and Adkins' 138 on 25 totes.
Following five straight Adkins runs, Roberts ripped off 22 yards on two carries before an incomplete pass and false start penalty pushed the Wildcats into a third-and-12 from the Oak Grove 17. On the final snap of the third quarter, Adkins overthrew Tim Hairston and Dillon Fedora hauled in his second interception of the night, this one in the end zone.
"We had those two possessions in the second half where we're just moving it, moving it, moving it and turn the ball over," Weems said. "We just made a couple of mistakes and the other team capitalized on them."
After Fedora returned the interception to the Oak Grove 27, the Warriors took 11 plays to grab a 14-point lead when Jordan Woods went in from 7 yards out. Woods led Oak Grove with 78 yards rushing on 12 carries, all coming in the second half. He later added the final score of the game, darting in from 16 yards out.
Meridian would claw back within one score when Hairston hauled in a 22-yard pass on fourth-and-16 with 5:15 left. The Wildcats would get one more chance when Jason Yarbor intercepted McMahon — who threw for 194 yards on 16-of-26 passing — at the MHS16 with 3:16 remaining. However, Adkins slipped and was sacked on fourth-and-4 and the Warriors would tack on one more score.
Adkins, who scored twice in the first half, completed just 7 of 22 passes for 147 yards and was intercepted three times. The junior misfired on 14 of 17 attempts in the second half.
"It's always tough," Weems said. "You work an entire year to get to this point, and the next chance we'll get to do this again will be another 12 months from now. It's an unbelievable amount of work and sweat that goes into it, and for the kids that don't get another opportunity, it hurts bad.
"But at the same time, we've got really an excellent nucleus to build from."
