Atavian Ray leads Harrison Central past Gulfport 27-7

GULFPORT -- Atavian Ray exploded for 169 yards, including a 78-yard scoring sprint, to lead Harrison Central to a dominant 27-7 win over Gulfport in Region 4-6A football Friday night.

The win for Harrison Central was the program's first at Gulfport since Sept. 19, 1986. Not only did it strengthen the Red Rebels' hold on top of the Region 4-6A standings, but it makes Gulfport’s return to the playoffs that much more difficult.

The last time Gulfport missed the state playoffs was 2009, when they finished fifth in region play. Since then, they have won the region title five times, including four titles in the last five years, and finished second three times.

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The Admirals (1-6) came into 2020 with a 23-game region winning streak. That streak was ended Sept. 25 when Gulfport was forced to forfeit a game against St. Martin due to a Covid-19 quarantine, which also cost them a conference loss by forfeit against West Harrison.

And with games remaining against D’Iberville, Ocean Springs, and rival Biloxi to close the season, Gulfport’s 10-straight seasons of making the playoffs is a long shot to extend to 11.

“We didn’t play well enough tonight to win,” said Gulfport coach John Archie, who admitted the Admirals faced an uphill battle to return to the playoffs in 2020. “We have to find a way to win. We have to keep on going on.”

Although Gulfport’s region winning streak officially came to an end with their forfeit loss to St. Martin, their loss to Harrison Central was the first time in 24 contested games the Admirals had lost.

With Ocean Springs loss to St. Martin Friday night, the Region 4-6A race may come down to Harrison Central and third-ranked D’Iberville when they meet in Lyman on Halloween weekend Oct. 30.

“It’s one more step to winning the region,” said Red Rebels coach Casey Cain.

Ray said the win only gives Harrison Central more confidence as they seek the top spot in the region. “It shows that we can be unstoppable if we play our kind of football,” he said.

The story Friday night was a ball control offense by Harrison Central and a strong defensive output that limited Gulfport to just six first downs. Behind long touchdown drives of 8:50 minutes, 5:49, and 7:22, the Red Rebels monopolized the ball with their offense on the field for 33 minutes and 41 seconds, leaving Gulfport with just over 14 minutes on offense.

“It’s very hard to do that,” Cain said. “It’s hard to get high school players to hold the ball that long without making a mistake of some kind.”

After holding Gulfport to a three-and-out on the Admirals first series of the game, the Red Rebels (6-0, 4-0) used 15 plays and almost nine minutes of game time to drive 70 yards for the game’s first score, a 1-yard plunge by Eric Hopkins. The point-after was blocked, but Harrison Central led 6-0.

Another three-and-out by Gulfport would give the ball back to Harrison Central at the Rebels 17. A 10-play drive covering 5:50 capped by Hopkins passing to Isaiah Atkins for 21-yards put Harrison Central up 13-0.

Behind Breck Leflore’s 53-yard scramble, Gulfport quickly moved into Rebels territory, Leflore put Gulfport on the scoreboard with a 20-yard scoring strike. The Gulfport score was followed Harrison Central’s shortest drive of the night, a single-play drive where Ray went for 78-yards to put the Rebels up 20-7 going into the half.

“I saw the offensive line make the hole and went for it,” Ray said. “When I went through the hole, I knew I had a touchdown. They weren’t going to catch me.”

Harrison Central put the game away in its opening drive of the second half, going 83 yards in 12 plays and 7:22, with Christian Turner, who was temporarily knocked out of the game in the first quarter after a hard hit at the goal line, hitting Atkins on a 6-yard touchdown pass.

With Harrison Central’s offense only allowing Gulfport 14 minutes of offense, the Admirals finished with a total of 118 yards of offense. Jamarus Raiford led the way for the Rebels with 2.5 sacks on the night.

Leflore led the Admirals with nine carries for 41 yards. He was also 5-of-11 passing for 59 yards.