Meridian faces tough test in Gulfport

Published 4:01 am Thursday, November 12, 2015

The dreams of a championship are always in the discussion with any high school football in the State of Mississippi — or anywhere across the country.

The dreams of all that hard work paying off in preseason workouts and the dreams of being the last team at the top of the mountain are almost a reality at this point. The dreams for the 2015 Meridian High School Wildcats are still very much alive, and the next step begins now.

Meridian will head into the first round of the Class 6A playoffs Friday night at Gulfport. The Wildcats had to fight like crazy during the final four games to earn a spot in the postseason, which feels like a victory in itself. The close losses and the injuries couldn’t keep this team out of the postseason, and now we will really find out what this squad is really made of when it takes the trip to Gulfport.

The first-round opponent for Meridian will be a tough chore because when you get to this point in the season, every time presents a different challenge. Gulfport will be riding an impressive eight-game winning streak that includes a Division 4-6A title a couple of weeks ago after beating Ocean Springs. Gulfport went a perfect 7-0 inside its region and has been playing its best football over the past month.

This will not be a new challenge for Meridian. The entire schedule for the Wildcats this season was filled with teams that will be a part of the postseason again. South Panola, Madison Central, Wayne County, Noxubee County, Oak Grove, Petal, and Brandon all represent teams that were on the schedule this season for Meridian that will take part in postseason play Friday night.

Meridian enters the game against Gulfport on Friday night with an overall mark of 6-5, and the team could have very easily been a team with at least 10 victories. I don’t want to go back down that road again, because we want to stay positive going into the postseason and just leave all of that heartbreak in the rear view mirror.

The biggest obstacle for Meridian in its first-round matchup with Gulfport will be its ability to stop of great running game of the Admirals. The game will ultimately be decided in the trenches, and Gulfport might have one of the better offensive lines in the State of Mississippi.

The biggest weapon in the backfield for Gulfport is senior running back Deon Cole, who has rushed for well over 1,000 yards this season and 11 touchdowns. Cole has had a solid season for the Admirals. Gulfport hasn’t thrown the ball a lot this season, and conventional wisdom would say they will try to keep things basic with their offense.

The strength of Meridian this season has been its defensive front seven, led by Julius Turner and Raekwon Davis, who have wreaked havoc on most strong offensive teams this season. The matchup between the offensive line of Gulfport and the defensive line of Meridian will be the most fun to watch on Friday night.

I believe it’s always a must to circle a couple of players in this game for Meridian that will play the biggest keys to a victory. The two players on the field that will hold the keys for Meridian willbe senior quarterback Tray Warren and senior wide receiver Daniel Crowell.

It’s easy to focus on Crowell because he’s had a marvelous senior season and is still a coveted recruiting prize for three potential teams (Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Ohio State), but it always comes down to quarterback play. I firmly believe that Warren has slowly gotten better as the season has progressed for Meridian and could be an overlooked player in the entire Class 6A playoffs.

Warren has had a better control of the offense for the Wildcats. I think many people believed it would be a tough transition for Warren after playing receiver most of his career, but I think he has passed with flying colors. Warren might not have the huge numbers on the stat sheet at the end of most games, but in my opinion, he has put together a great season.

The first-round matchup between Meridian and Gulfport has many other side stories, but this should be a fun game between the two schools. Meridian is also not a stranger to Gulfport after a first-round win just two short seasons ago by a final of 49-46.

I don’t think we will see that type of scoring game tomorrow night, but who can really predict these things? I want to wish the best of luck to coach Larry Weems and Meridian in its game as the journey officially begins. Go Cats!

Robby Atkinson is the sports information director at Meridian Community College.