November 16, 2007

Maroon Tide Drowns Lawrence County Cougars 53-29

by Carey Meitzler

Picayune---Country music singer Jerry Reed's hit song "When You're Hot You're Hot" has a line that says "My luck was so good

I could do no wrong, I just kept on rollin' and controllin' them bones...".   Down 21-6 in the second quarter, Picayune echoed

the sentiments of those lines by scoring 40 unanswered points posting a 53-29 win over Lawrence County in 2nd round of the

Class 4A South State playoffs before an estimated 3,300 at Maroon Tide Stadium.

Picayune scored on their first possession on a 2 yard run by Albert Richard that capped off a 10 play 79 yard drive.  The point

after was missed and the Maroon Tide had a 6-0 lead with 6:51 left in the first quarter.

Lawrence County counter with a 87 yard touchdown run by Isiah Ferdinand on their first play from scrimmage and led 7-6 after

Rashawn Haynes extra point with 6:31 left.

On the Maroon Tide's next possession, Richard was hit and fumbled at the Cougar 35 yard line and as the ball bounced

backward, Curtis Carr scooped it up at the 40 yard line and raced 60 yards for a touchdown giving Lawrence County a 14-6

lead with :52 left in the quarter.

After holding the Maroon Tide and forcing a punt, the Cougars marched 71 yards in 10 plays with Kendrick Hardy scoring on a

13 yard run.  Haynes point after made it 21-6 with 5:10 left.

Photo by John Young

Caleb Hickman(18) throws a 30 yard completion to Chris Nixon.

At this point, the Tide literally went on a roll and could do no wrong.  On the first play after the Cougar kickoff, Caleb Hickman

threw a perfect pass to a streaking Chris Nixon down the right sideline for a 30 yard gain to the Cougar 34 yard line.  On the next

play, Richard took a pitch from Hickman moving toward the right sideline, then cut upfield at the right hash mark and sped past

the Cougars for the touchdown.  A two point attempt failed and the Lawrence County lead stood at 21-12 with 4:39 left.

Photo by John Young

Albert Richard runs for daylight on his way to a touchdown run.

The Maroon Tide held the Cougars and forced a punt that Wayne McMooain fielded at his 49 yard line and returned to the

Lawrence County 38 yard line. Five plays later, Hickman connected with tight end Jake Martinez on a 12 yard touchdown pass.

Matt Dragon kicked the point after to make the score 21-19 with :48 left.

Lawrence County moved the ball to the Maroon Tide 6 yard line on three running plays, but ran out of time.

On the first possession of the second half, Lawrence County was facing a 4th and 3 situation at their own 43 yard line.  At first,

it appeared they would attempt to go for it, but then called timeout.  After the timeout, the Cougars lined up in punt formation

and attempted a fake punt with a short snap to one of the blocking backs, but the ball was fumbled and Picayune's Justin Flowers

recovered at the 50 yard line.

After a 6 yard run by Richard on first down, fullback Gabe Hinojosa ripped up the middle for a 39 yard run putting the Tide

at the Cougar 5 yard line.  Richard ran for 4 yards and then scored from 1 yard out to put Picayune up 25-21 with 7:58 left in

the third quarter.  A two point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Photo by John Young

Gabe Hinojosa (33) on his 39 yard run to the Cougar five yard line as Jon Billips trails the play.

On the next Cougar possession, they fumbled and the ball was recovered by Jonathan Freeman at the Picayune 48 yard line.

The Maroon Tide drove the 52 yards in 7 plays with Drew Cole scoring from 17 yards out.  Dragon's point after made it

32-21 with 3:18 left in the quarter.

The next Cougar possession was stopped when Maroon Tide defensive tackle Kwamane Wilson intercepted a screen pass

at the Lawrence County 35 yard line.  Caleb Hickman scored on a 1 yard run on the sixth play of the drive.  Dragon kicked

the point after for a 39-21 lead with 10:30 left in the game.

Lawrence County's next possesion ended on a failed fourth down pass attempt.  Taking over at midfield, Picayune scored

in 7 plays with the touchdown coming on an 11 yard run by Hinojosa. Dragon's point after made it 46-21 with 4:42 left.

Lawrence County broke their scoring drought with a 63 yard run by Hardy with 3:45 left.

Picayune's last score came on Richard's fourth touchdown, a 2 yard plunge with 1:30 left.

Lawrence County's last drive was halted by a McMooain interception with 1:20 to play.

Richard ran for 190 yards on 28 attempts.  Hinojosa had 11 rushes for 117 yards.

Hardy finished with 17 rushes for 195 yards while Ferdinand had 139 yards on 8 rushes.

Picayune (10-1) will travel to Moss Point, a 18-13 winner over Northeast Jones.  Moss Point defeated Picayune

in week one of the regular season by a 28-14 margin in a game played at Picayune.

Game time is set for 7:00pm and can be heard on WRJW 1320 AM and via the internet on iHigh.com/EzStream broadcast

network with the Maroon Tide WarmUp Pre-game Show beginning at 6:35pm.

Picayune- Albert Richard 13 run (PAT missed); P 6-0

Lawrence County-Isiah Ferdinand 87 run (Rashawn Haynes kick); LC 7-6

Lawrence County- Curtis Carr 60 fumble return (Rashawn Haynes kick); LC 14-6

Lawrence County-Kendrick Hardy 13 run (Rashawn Haynes kick); LC 21-6

Picayune-Albert Richard 34 run (2 pt run failed); LC 21-12

Picayune-Jake Martinez 12 yard pass from Caleb Hickman (Matt Dragon kick); LC 21-19

Picayune-Albert Richard 1 yard run (2 pt run failed); P 25-21

Picayune-Drew Cole 17 yard run (Matt Dragon kick); P -32-21

Picayune-Caleb Hickman 1 yard run (Matt Dragon kick); P 39-21

Picayune-Gabe Hinojosa 11 yard run (Matt Dragon kick); P 46-21

Lawrence County- Kendrick Hardy 63 yard run (Blake Stalans pass from Adam Watson); P 46-29

Picayune-Albert Richard 2 yard run (Matt Dragon kick). P 53-29