Maroon Tide falls in overtime to Baton Rouge-Catholic
By Carey Meitzler
Audio replay of the game (Click Here)
Picayune-Two of the most successful football programs over the past decade in Louisiana and Mississippi battled before an overflow crowd at Lee-Triplett Stadium with Catholic High of Baton Rouge defeating Picayune 36-35 in overtime.
Catholic’s Bears scored on their first possession on a 55 yard touchdown pass from Daniel Beale to Amari Clayton with 9:36 left in the quarter.
Picayune started its first possession with a pair of first downs before penalties stymied the drive resulting in a punt. Catholic hit another big play on the first snap after the Maroon Tide punt when Beale connected with Brooks Wright for a 82 touchdown pass giving the Bears a 14-0 lead after the extra point by Sean Perrett with 3:26 left in the quarter.
Photos by Randy Brown/WRJW Sports
Brady Robertson (7) scores while Brenan Williams (61) blocks
Picayune responded with a 10 play 80 yard drive using 5 minutes and 15 seconds off the clock. Brady Robertson plunged in from 2 yards out on a quarterback keeper to make it 14-7 after the Jamal Simmons extra point with 10:17 left in the second quarter.
Catholic converted two first downs, but had to punt the ball away.
Picayune took over at its 9 with 5:33 left in the half. The Maroon Tide drive, once again hampered by penalties, ended at the Bear 35 as the half ended. In the first half, Picayune had the ball for over 16 minutes.
On the first possession of the second half, Picayune fumble and Catholic recovered at the Maroon Tide 39. Two plays later, Barry Remo raced in from 44 yards to make 21-7 after Perret’s point after.
Chris Davis (6) makes a move off a block by Mitchell Smith (73).
Picayune scored when it got the ball after the Bear kickoff moving 65 yards in 7 plays with Chris Davis scoring from 3 yards out. Simmons extra point was blocked making it 21-13 with 5:49 left in the third quarter.
Catholic’s next series of downs ended on a failed fake punt attempt giving Picayune the ball at the Bear 44 yard line.
Picayune used 5 plays to score with Davis getting the touchdown on a 2 yard run. The Maroon Tide converted a 2 point conversion on another Davis run to tie the game at 21-21 with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
The Maroon Tide defense turned away the Bears when Cristian James intercepted a Beale pass at the Picayune 6 yard line with :20 left in the third quarter.
Picayune then grinded out a 19 play 94 drive milking 10 minutes and 43 seconds off the clock. Davis scored from 3 yards out and Simmons’ point after gave the Maroon Tide its first lead with 1:37 left in the game.
Catholic used a 43 yard pass from Beale to Hunter Ullrich to move the ball to the Picayune 13 yard line. Picayune was penalized for a pass interference call that moved the ball to the 6 yard line. On fourth down, Beale connected with Remo on a 6 yard pass for the touchdown with :20 left. Catholic was penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration after the touchdown which made the point after a 35 yard attempt. Perrett made the kick to tie the game at 28-28.
Picayune moved the ball to the Bear 45 when regulation ended.
In overtime, Picayune scored on 3 yard run by Davis to take a 35-28 lead.
Catholic scored on a 7 yard pass from Beale to Brooks Wright. The Bears went for the 2 point conversion and Beale scrambled out of the pocket to his left and raced toward the pylon. The official ruled Beale scored as he fell into the pylon, however video of the play showed his knee down at the 1 yard line before he eventually touched the pylon.
Head Coach Cody Stogner, while disappointed with the loss, was proud of his team’s effort.
“A lot of teams would have gave up, but our guys fought back,” Stogner stated.
“In that first half, that’s one of the most undisciplined Picayune football teams I’ve seen in a long time. Those unforced penalties are the snake that bites us. It seemed like we got it fixed in the second half. We believe that we are the only team that can beat us, and it (penalties) showed tonight. This stings, but it’s going to determine what this football team is all about.”
Chris Davis paced the Maroon Tide offense with 263 yards on 36 carries. Beale completed 9 of 17 passes for 222 yards for the Bears.
In time of possession, Picayune had the ball for 38 minutes of the 48 minutes of regulation. Picayune was penalized for 115 yards.
Picayune (1-1) will travel to D’Iberville on Friday.
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