Hattiesburg rallies past Maroon Tide 41-37
Shaun Anderson (20) looking for a seam to run Photo by Randy Brown
Picayune--The Hattiesburg Tigers trailed Picayune 37-28 with 8:24 left in the game, but rallied behind the play of their outstanding junior quarterback Jarod Connor to defeat the Maroon Tide 41-37 at Lee-Triplett Stadium.
The Tigers (9-0, 5-0) scored on the first possession of the game on a 41 yard touchdown pass from Connor to JayLynn Page to lead 7-0 with 10:26 left in the first quarter.
Picayune answered with a one yard run by Shaun Anderson that capped off an 8 play 75 yard drive , but the point after was missed making it 7-6 with 6:00 left in the quarter.
The Maroon Tide defense held Hattiesburg forcing a punt and Picayune started at their own 5 yard line. The Maroon Tide went the 95 yards in 9 plays with Anderson sprinting in from 34 yards out for the touchdown. Anderson ran for the two point conversion to make it 14-7 with 10:40 left in the second quarter.
Connor brought his Tigers back with a 44 yard touchdown pass to Raheem Willis to tie the game at 14-14 with 8:48 left before half.
Picayune took the lead on a 21 yard field goal by freshman Austin Samples with 1:26 left, only to see Connor come back with an 8 yard run with :39 left to put Hattiesburg up 21-17 at the half.
Tyler Penton (9) completed this pass to Jakail Myers. Photo by Randy Brown
Picayune scored on the first possession of the third quarter on a 28 yard touchdown run by Anderson and Samples kicked the extra point for a 24-21 lead with 9:01 left in the third quarter.
Hattiesburg wasted little time scoring on the third play after the kickoff on a 22 yard run by Fabian Franklin with 7:26 left in the third quarter to lead 28-24.
Picayune took the lead on their next possession with Anderson racing in from 35 yards out with 2:44 left in the quarter and Samples point after made it 31-28.
The Maroon Tide defense held the Tigers forcing a punt to the Picayune 21. Brian Taylor busted loose and motored 38 yards for a touchdown with 8:24 left in the game. The point after was no good making it 37-28.
Connor took just 1 minute and 4 seconds to put points on the board when he connected with Willis on an 11 yard touchdown pass with 7:20 left. The point after was no good and Picayune's lead was 37-34.
Picayune started at their 10 yard line after the kickoff and moved the ball to near midfield, but a fumble gave the ball back to Hattiesburg at their 46 with 5:00 left. Connor drove his team down to the Maroon Tide 11. Facing 4th and five, Connor threw a touchdown pass to Humbles with 2:31 left to go ahead 41-37.
Picayune moved the ball to the Tiger 37, but with :35 left, a fourth down run was short of the first down and Hattiesburg took over and ran out the clock.
Anderson ran 37 times for 329 yards and Taylor added 106 yards on 5 carries.
Connor completed 14 of 23 for 278 yards and ran for 95 yards on 12 carries.
Picayune (7-2, 4-1) will travel to Gautier next Friday.
