The Warriors kicked off the 2009 football season against Bassfield on Saturday, August 22. After a rough first half where they were down 20-10, the team pulled out a victory, beating the Yellow Jackets 30-20. Jay Hughes, a senior, was the leading scorer.

The following Friday, the Warriors battled one of their biggest rivals, the Petal Panthers. After a close game with Bassfield, the team spent many hours practicing and preparing for the game. With two quarterbacks out with injuries, Oak Grove was down 10-0 at half time. A quick pep talk in the locker room gave the Warriors confidence to come back. With an extraordinary touch down made by Steve McNair Jr., the final score was 21-18, giving the Warriors an undefeated start to the season.

Swimming

The Oak Grove High School swim team began another season under Coach Nora Rapetti on August 20 with their first practice at USM’s Natatorium.  The team meets for practice every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, as well as on the Fridays that a football game is not scheduled.

The team hopes the practice and preparation will pay off and they will be able to perform as well at South State in October as they did during last season, where the boys’ team won and the girls’ team placed among the top 10.  The competitors are working towards making the state qualifying time at or before South State to make it to the state competition October 24.

The team will begin its competition season on September 8 at Picayune, where they’ll compete  in a head-to-head.

Volleyball

Volleyball season started off with a rough beginning. With only eight returning players from previous years, the team is very young. The Lady Warrior volleyball team has played four games so far this season. All of the games were really close; however, the varsity only came out with one victory and the junior varsity with two. The team practices Monday through Thursday from four to six in hopes that they can work better as a team and have success throughout the season. This past weekend, the varsity members participated in the annual Gulf Coast Kick-Off held by Our Lady Academy’s volleyball team. They played very well and had all close games; however, they only pulled out one victory.  The team has a lot of passion for volleyball and they expect more wins to come.

Cross Country

On August 22, the Oak Grove Cross Country team participated in their first meet of the season. The outcomes of both the boys’ and girls’ divisions were very good. Kristie Stricker, an eighth grader, placed first overall in the girls’ division. Chad Moore, an eleventh grader, placed first overall in the boys’ division. Poplarville, Clinton, PCS, Petal, and Picayune also competed in the meet.

The second meet, held at Choctaw Trails, ended well for both divisions. The girls placed first and the boys placed second. The team was very excited about the outcome of this meet. The team has worked very hard these first few weeks and it has clearly paid off. Our diligent Cross Country team will continue to practice for the next meet on Friday, September 4 at Tatum Park.