Oak Grove Turns Back the Tide to Capture South State Title
The Picayune Maroon Tide's quest for a trip to Jackson to play for the Class 5A Championship was halted by Oak
Grove in a thrilling 24-20 contest at Warrior Field. Starting from their own 2 yard line, Picayune drove to the Warrior
9 yard line only to have two passes tipped away in the end zone by Oak Grove ending the Tide's season.
With the clock showing :44 seconds to play, the Maroon Tide was facing a 3rd and 5 at the Warrior 9 yard line. Chris
Stewart lofted a pass toward the right corner of the end zone toward would be receiver Scott Hillery, but the pass was
tipped away at the last moment by Chris Wright forcing the Tide into a 4th down situation. After a Tide timeout,
Stewart faked to Justin Magee and fired over the middle intending the pass for tight end Mit Cole. Cole was cutting to
his right and broke free from the grasp of an apparent hold on him by the defensive back. At the same moment, Oak
Grove's Garry Pack reached out and deflected the pass just yards in front of Cole and the Warriors had escaped with
the victory.
Oak Grove opened the game with a 9 play 71 yard drive capped on a 1 yard run by Garry Pack. Taylor Lovitt kicked
the extra point for a 7-0 Warrior lead with 8:16 left in the opening quarter.
After the Warrior kickoff, the Tide started their first possession at their own 29 yard line. The Tide moved the ball to the
Oak Grove 34 yard line in 7 plays before Pack stripped the ball from Picayune's Gian Nixon. Kenny Lawler jumped on
the fumble for the Warriors. On the first play after the fumble, Oak Grove fumbled and the Tide's Eric Griffin pounced
on the ball at the Warrior 39. The Tide moved down to the Warrior 19 yard line and eventually came away with no points
as Scott Hillery missed a 37 yard field goal to the left of the uprights.
Picayune finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter as Justin Magee ran in from 8 yards out. The touchdown was
the 10th play of a 73 yard drive. Hillery added the extra point and the score was knotted at 7-7 with 9:28 to play in the
second quarter.
Oak Grove scored on their next possession on a 67 yard run by Brandon Newsome. Lovitt added the extra point for 14-7
Warrior advantage with 8:32 on the clock.
The Tide was forced to punt on their next possession. On the second play after the punt, Oak Grove fumbled the football
at their own 32 and after a wild scramble for the football in which at least 6 different players had their hands on the ball,
Stephen Hall recovered the ball at the Warrior 12 yard line. Magee scored on second down from 5 yards out and coupled
with Hillery's point-after-touchdown, the scored was even at 14-14 with 5:09 to play in the second quarter.
Oak Grove took the ensuing kickoff marching from their own 23 to the Tide 10 yard line where they settled for a Taylor
Lovitt 26 yard field goal enabling them to go to the locker room with a 17-14 lead.
On the opening possession of the third quarter, the Tide was moving the football. On first down from the Tide 43, Quincy
Coleman took a reverse handoff from Justin Magee and raced to the Oak Grove 38 yard line. On the play, the Tide was
flagged for holding on a questionable call well behind the play resulting in Picayune being penalized back to their own 38
yard line. On the next play, Chris Wright stepped in front a Chris Stewart pass intended for Scott Hillery at the Tide 45 and
returned it down the left sideline for a 45 yard touchdown interception return. Lovitt added the extra point for a 24-14 lead
with 10:14 left in the third quarter.
With 4:01 to play in the third quarter, Brandon Walls and Lester Robinson with some help from Eric Griffin stopped Garry
Pack on 4th and inches at the Tide 36 yard line. The Tide moved to the Oak Grove 30 yard line, facing 4th and 6 yards to go.
After a Tide timeout to confer with Head Coach Dodd Lee, Justin Magee took the pitch from Stewart and lofted a half back
pass to Ryan Detillier. Detillier cradled in the pass in the right corner of the end zone for the score. The point after was blocked
by Pack after Stewart had trouble handling the snap and Oak Grove led 24-20 with :50 left in the third quarter.
The Tide defense forced Oak Grove to punt the football away with 8:17 to play. The Warriors Todd Siders dropped the punt
deep in Tide territory forcing the Tide to start at their own 2 yard line. Behind the running of Magee and passing of Stewart, in-
cluding a key 11 yard completion to Hillery on 3rd and 8 yards to go at the Tide 15, the Tide moved to the Warrior 30 yard
line with just under two minutes to play. On first down, Stewart faked the ball to fullback Tim Gaff, Magee, Detillier from his
wingback position, before running around right end to the Warrior 15 yard line. On the next play, Magee got five yards to the
10 yard line and then gained 1 yard to move the ball to the Warrior 9 yard line before the two final pass attempts that the Warriors
knocked away.
Oak Grove (14-0) will advance to take on South Panola next Friday in Jackson for the Class 5A Championship. Picayune
finishes the year with 11 wins and 3 losses.
Justin Magee had 34 carries for 163 yards. Magee finished the season with over 2,000 yards rushing with 29 rushing touchdowns,
2 receiving touchdowns, and threw a touchdown pass. Chris Stewart, who went over 1,000 yards for the season last week against
Northwest Rankin, was 7 of 17 for 98 yards through the air.
Garry Pack finished with 62 yards on 14 carries. Brandon Newsome rushed 7 times for 82 yards with 67 yards coming on
his 2nd quarter touchdown run. Kyle Sellers was 9 of 15 for 105 yards in passing for Oak Grove.
The Tide had 329 total yards of offense compared to 243 for the Warriors.