Picayune beats Gautier 42-35 in overtime

Jakail Myers quarterback sneak in overtime gave Picayune a 42-35 win over the Gautier Gators to clinch a number two seed for the Maroon Tide in the upcoming Class 5A playoffs. Picayune came out flat against the Gators and it was obvious Gautier was ready to play as they showed in the first quarter at Lee-Triplett Stadium.

Gautier scored on their second play from scrimmage on a 55 yard run by Austin Rogers with 11:06 showing on the clock. After they held Picayune on downs on the Tide’s first possession at the Picayune 43, they struck again on a big play when Dalyn McDonald threw a 30 yard touchdown pass to Jordan Irving with 7:03 left in the quarter.

Picayune’s Curdevone Jackson returned the Gator kickoff to the Gautier 39 and Jortin Raine scored 4 plays later on a 3 yard run to cut the lead to 14-7 with 5:21 left in the first quarter.

Gautier’s Kameron Kincaid returned the kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown to make 21-7.

Jortin Raine (2) picks up big yardage against Gautier

Picayune scored on their possession after the Gator kickoff. Facing fourth down at the Gautier 7, Dylan Schaubhut took a handoff from Myers on a wingback reverse and outran the Gator defenders to the pylon for the touchdown on the last play of the first quarter.

Trailing 21-14, Picayune executed an onside kick and got the ball back at the Picayune 49 after Gautier mishandled the kick. Eight plays later, Raine scored on a 5 yard run and Brice made his third extra point to tie the game at 21-21 with 8:40 left in the second quarter.

Picayune’s defense recorded two sacks by Juvonte Raymond and Elijah Jenkins to force a Gator punt which was shanked and Picayune took over at the Gautier 24. Raine scored on the first play after the change of possession to give the Maroon Tide a 28-21 lead with 6:08 left.

Gautier moved the ball to the Picayune 21 and went for the touchdown on fourth down, but Jackson swatted the ball away from the Gautier receiver in the end zone with :30 left in the half.

Picayune got the ball up the field quickly on two runs by Raine (44 and 11 yards) and a pass from Myers to Jackson to setup a 37 yard field goal attempt, but the kick was short.

Jortin Raine scores a 3 yard run.

The Maroon Tide scored on the opening possession of the second half with Raine running it in from 3 yards out.

Kincaid returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 35-28.

Gautier held the Maroon Tide on downs on two possessions before they scored on a 16 yard run by Kolby Packnett on fourth down. Kyle Gager kicked his fifth point after to tie the game at 35-35 with 7:37 left.

Gautier held Picayune once more on fourth down and took over at the Gator 40. Picayune recovered a fumble to get the ball back at the Picayune 40 with 1:24 left. The Maroon Tide moved the ball to the Gautier 20 and Brice attempted a 42 yard field goal that was short.

In overtime, Gautier lined up for a field goal on fourth down from the Maroon Tide 5, but decided to run a fake field goal and the Maroon Tide secondary was able to deflect the pass away from the receiver.

Picayune then scored on third down when Myers scored. The officials made Picayune kick the extra point due to the possibility of Gautier ending up in a tie-breaker situation to determine playoff participation.

Raine led Picayune with 43 carries for 298 yards.

Picayune (7-3, 5-1) will close out the regular season on Friday at Pearl River Central.