November 6, 2009

Maroon Tide tops Wayne County 27-21

by Carey Meitzler

Picayune--Jacob Kennedy threw a 21 yard touchdown pass to Chris Burton with :16 left to give Picayune a 27-21 win over the

Wayne County War Eagles and the Maroon Tide earned the second seed in next week's Class 5A South State playoffs.

Picayune's defense forced a War Eagle punt on the first possession of the game.  Wayne McMooain gathered in the punt at his

40-yard line and returned it to the Wayne County 15.  On first down,  Jacob Kennedy passed to Jonathan Moore on a slant route

for the touchdown with 9:45 left.  Dalton O'Meara added the PAT for a 7-0 lead.

The Maroon Tide forced another punt and got the ball at their own 35-yard line.  Picayune drove 65 yards in 11 plays with

Jamal Hall scoring on a 5 yard touchdown run with 3:14 left.  O'Meara's point after made it 14-0.

Wayne County came back on their next possession and drove to the Picayune 8, but fumbled the ball and Wayne McMooain

recovered for the Maroon Tide. 

On first down, Kennedy found Scottie Merrill in the right flat and Merrill went 62 yards to the War Eagle 30.  Eight plays later,

Picayune scored when Kennedy passed to Merrill again in the right flat, this time for a 3 yard touchdown with 9:00 left in the

second quarter.  O'Meara converted the point after for a 21-0 lead.

Malik Lofton returned the ensuing kickoff  95 yards for a Wayne County touchdown.  Garrett Reynolds kicked the point after

to make it 21-7 with 8:47 left. 

Picayune's next possession ended at War Eagle's 39 when they turned the ball over on downs.  Wayne County drove to the

Maroon Tide 25, but missed a field goal.

Wayne County held the Maroon Tide on their first possession of the third quarter and forced a punt.  After returning the punt

to their own 49, Demarcus Henderson connected with Loftin on a 51 yard touchdown pass with 10:05 left.

The Maroon Tide's next drive ended on a failed fourth down pass at the Wayne County 29-yard line. 

The War Eagles drove 71 yards in 11 plays scoring on Rasharid Boman's 2 yard run.  Reynolds point after tied the score

at 21-21 with 3:00 left in the third quarter.

Picayune once again turned the ball over on downs, this time at the Wayne County 23 with 9:49 left.  The War Eagles punted

the ball back to the Maroon Tide at Picayune's 18 yard line with 7:09 left.

The Maroon Tide offense converted some big plays in moving the ball down the field.  Kennedy connected with Moore

for a 30 yard pass to the 50 yard line.  On third and 10 to go at the War Eagle 45,  Kennedy found Moore again for a first

down to the 35. Picayune converted a fourth down at the War Eagle 31 and again at the 14. On first down, an errant pitch

resulted in Picayune losing 7 yards on that put the ball back to the 21.  After a time out, Picayune came to the line at the 21,

with the score tied at 21, and :21 seconds left on the clock prior to Kennedy's game winner to Burton.  The PAT was wide

left leaving the score at 27-21 with :16 left.

On the kickoff,  Merrill sealed the win by recovering a Wayne County fumble.

Kennedy completed 9 of 15 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns.  Hall had 138 yards on 27 carries.

Picayune (7-3, 6-1) will host D'Iberville in next week's Class 5A playoffs while Wayne County (8-3, 5-2) travels to Gautier.