Justin Magee Carries Picayune Past Northwest Rankin 24-17

             Justin Magee                                          Scott Hillery                                 Dodd Lee

The Picayune Maroon Tide rallied from a 17-14 halftime deficit to hold off Northwest Rankin 24-17 at Picayune. 

Senior running back Justin Magee scored three (3) touchdowns on his way to 32 carries for 301 yards.  On the

season, Magee has scored 18 touchdowns and has amassed 1,341 yards on the ground.  Magee's efforts enabled

Head Coach Dodd Lee to record his 71st win at Picayune making him the all-time winningest coach in Maroon

Tide history.  Lee surpassed the legendary Dobie Holden (70) and the late Calvin Triplett (62) who won a state

championship in 1986 for the Maroon Tide. Lee was an assistant under Triplett during Triplett's tenure at Picayune.

The Maroon Tide struck first as they held Northwest Rankin and forced them to punt on their first possession.

Picayune took over at their own 24 yard line.  On third and one from the 33 yard line, Magee raced down the

right sideline for a 67 yard touchdown.  Scott Hillery added the PAT and the Tide led 7-0 with 8:26 left in

quarter number one.

Northwest Rankin tied the game on a 63 yard touchdown pass from Tyler Moore to Stuart Davidson early in the

second quarter.  Ragan Walters added the PAT and it was knotted at 7-7 with 11:42 left in the second quarter.

Picayune would go back out in front on a 42 yard run by Magee capping off a 4 play 68 yard drive.  Hillery's PAT

was good and the Tide led 14-7 with 4:06 to play in the second quarter.

Northwest Rankin came back on their next possession covering 72 yards in 10 plays with Moore going in from six

yards out on a option keeper around right end.  Walters added the point after touchdown and it was 14-14 with

:25 left before the half.  On the ensuing kickoff, Walters delivered a "pooch" kick that the Cougars recovered

at the Tide 33 yard line.  On third down from the 30 yard line, Walters kicked a 47 yard field goal to put Northwest

Rankin on top 17-14 at the half.

On the Tide's opening possession of the second half, Picayune move the ball to the Northwest Rankin 30 yard line.

The drive stalled and Coach Dodd Lee called upon Hillery for a 47 yard field goal to tie the game at 17-17.

Northwest Rankin's next possession ended as Jimmy Jones intercepted a Cougar pass (his 5th interception for the

season) at the Tide 35 and returned it to the Northwest Rankin 45 yard line.  Four plays later, Magee goes in from

4 yards out. Hillery kicked the extra point to make it 24-17 Picayune with 2:25 left in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Picayune move the ball inside the Cougar 10 yard only to fumble it away.

With under two (2) minutes in the game, the Tide drove to the Northwest 1 yard line, but was unable to score as Northwest

Rankin took over on downs.  On the last play of the game, Jeremy Bibbs caught a pass from Moore and broke tackles as

he raced down field only to be tackled by Quincy Coleman at the 50 yard line to end the game.

Next week, Picayune travels to Oak Grove to take on the Warriors to decide the Division 3-5A championship.