By Parrish Alford
TUPELO – A new beginning for Drew Dean and redemption for his teammates blended nicely in a dominant opening night performance for No. 1 Tupelo.
Dean, the starting quarterback for Oxford until losing the job to Knox Kiffin (son of LSU coach and former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin) in the middle of the 2025 season, threw for 204 yards with three touchdowns and no turnovers – the last stat the most significant – as Tupelo rolled over Brandon 38-14 at Renasant Field.
While Dean had a very efficient, workmanlike performance, the Golden Wave intercepted Brandon’s Sladen Shack, a three-year starter and Illinois commitment, three times.
All the picks came in the first half as Tupelo built a 28-7 lead. The Wave was in control, looking very much like a team angry that one tipped deep pass on the last play of the game last December kept it from being back-to-back Class 7A champs.
“This was a good first step. They’re a very talented team. I knew if we could stick to our game and how we play ball we were going to be fine,” Tupelo coach Ty Hardin said. “It was just refreshing to see because of the fear of the unknown for both teams.”
One of the unknowns was Hardin’s new quarterback in new surroundings. Dean completed 19 of 26 attempts with a long pass of 33 yards.
“It was awesome to see Drew go out and sling it around and feel real comfortable. We felt good about him the whole time, but to actually go out and see it, you get that relief.”
Dean was good, but the interceptions changed the game.
Said Hardin: “It was a mixture of our guys knowing the game plan, a great scouting report by our defensive coaches, our guys executing it and (Shack) probably sticking to his guns and doing what he’s done.”
Tupelo needed those turnovers to change momentum in the game, Hardin said.
“The turnovers changed the game, period,” Hardin said. “The three turnovers in the first half, you saw the first two drives from them, they were driving, and we got a pick-six on a screen then they turned around and drove and scored.”
Hardin said Tupelo made some adjustments after playing tentative against Brandon’s team speed early.
“They were doing a lot of quick game stuff, and we were kind of scared of their speed over the top,” Hardin said. “We just adjusted and said, ‘hey man, let our guys run with their guys. We’ve got just as much speed.’ ”
Shack completed 11 of 19 attempts for 97 yards.
HIs first interception came as Brandon was driving after the game’s opening pick. Tupelo end Daeden Hill snared a tipped ball and returned it 60 yards for the score.
Brandon answered with an 8-yard run by Tyson Robinson which capped a 12-play, 85-yard drive and took 4:42 off the clock.
It was all Tupelo from there.
Shack threw interceptions on back-to-back possession in the second quarter, the first to Tupelo’s Kylan Gates, the second to a diving Fred Adams.
Meanwhile, Dean was 10-for-14 passing for 107 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers.
Both of Dean’s scores went to wide receiver Eli Shannon, the first for 5 yards answered Robinson’s score, the second for 18 yards came with Shannon breaking a tackle at the 5.
That put Tupelo ahead 28-7 just 22 seconds before the break and gave Dean a lot of room to work with.
“It was great. I hadn’t played since October, and getting to come out here against Brandon, a lot of people had them beating us,” Dean said. “We knew it was going to be a big game. It was great getting out first win.
The Wave’s other first-half touchdown came on a 1-yard run by Kylan Bobo with 5:15 left in the second quarter. That made it 21-7 Tupelo.
Dean threw a 5-yard touchdown to Kirksey Warlick with 6:40 left in the third. Tupelo closed its scoring with a 21-yard field goal by Hopson Daughdrill with 44 seconds left in the third.
Brandon’s final points came on a 70-yard touchdown run by Caleb McCoy with 1:42 left to play.
Brandon coach Eugene Clinton – making his debut after being named head coach after being interim for the second half of last season when Lance Pogue resigned – defended Shack.
“I thought our quarterback did good. Sometimes mistakes happen, but you learn from those, and you keep moving on,” Clinton said.
He credited the Tupelo defense for making good plays.
“We made some mistakes on our half, but they are a great team,” Clinton said. “You can’t underestimate or downplay them. They are a great team.”
Clinton was upbeat in defeat and confident moving ahead. Mistakes can be corrected, he said.
“It was one of those growing things,” Clinton said. “A lot of our kids have not played 7A football before. I think our team showed some promise. We have some things we have to work on, but we showed we can move the ball, and we have some skill players ourselves.”
