Maroon Tide outlasts Gautier 47-43

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Gautier—Picayune’s Dorian Robinson scored on a five yard run with :21 to lift the Maroon Tide to a 47-40 win over the Gautier Gator at Vaughn-Wallace Stadium.

The Maroon Tide and Gators swapped scores for the first three possessions of the first half

Picayune’s opening drive was 10 plays covering 65 yards with the touchdown coming on a 9 yard run by sophomore Darnell Smith. Freshman Morgan Craft kicked the point after for a h7-0 lead with 7:01 left in the first quarter.

Gautier responded going 68 yards in 6 plays with sophomore Kaden Irving throwing a 28 yard touchdown pass to Tyrese Combest with 5:08 on the clock.

The Maroon Tide’s next score came just four plays later on a 58 yard pass from senior Isaac Hickman to junior Amari Johnson with 3:19 left in the first. Craft converted the extra point for a 14-7 lead.

The Gators tied the game on a 4 yard run by Kolby Packnett with 1:58 to play in the first quarter.

Picayune responded with a 9 play 69 yard drive with 6:02 left in the second quarter when junior Dorian Robinson plunged in from 2 yards out. Craft’s extra point made it 21-14.

Packnett scored again from 4 yards away with 3:32 left before half.

Picayune was forced to punt on its next possession, but got the ball back when Gautier was unable to convert a fourth down pass at the Maroon Tide 49 with :32 left.

Three plays later, Hickman connected with senior Jayshawn Lee for a 38 yard touchdown pass with :12 left. Craft booted the extra point for a 28-21 lead.

Head Coach Cody Stogner

Gautier tied the game on the first possession of the third quarter with a 8 play 68 yard drive on a pass from Irving to Zavionne Payne.

Picayune punted the ball away on its possession, but the Maroon Tide held the Gators on downs on the Gautier possession at the Maroon Tide 38.

Hickman capped on a 11 play drive on a 1 yard run. The point after was wide left and the Maroon Tide led 34-28 with 11:56 left in the game.

The Gators punted on their next possession, but got it back when Picayune fumbled the ball at its own 11 on its first play after the punt. Gautier scored two plays lafter on a 14 yard pass from Irving to Aydan Morgan and the point after by Mario Lopez gave them the lead 35-34 with 7:40 left.

After the Maroon Tide had to punt the ball away on its next possession, the defense got the ball back when sophomore Damarius Magee recovered a Gator fumble at the Gautier 26. Robinson scored 5 plays later on a 3 yard run with 2:51 left in the game. Picayune went for the two point conversion, but was stopped.

Gautier’s Irving took just 4 plays to respond when he connected with Payne for a 14 yard touchdown pass with 1:57 left. The Gators made a 2 point conversion to lead 43-40.

Picayune took over after the ensuing kickoff at its 33. Picayune got a first down on a 9 yard run by juniorNoah Carter on third down. Facing another third down from its 37, Hickman and Lee connected on a 58 pass play to give the Maroon Tide a first goal at the Gautier 5 yard line. Robinson’s third touchdown and Craft’s extra point gave the Maroon Tide a 47-43 lead.

Gautier took over after the kickoff at their 33 with :15 left. After a 5 yard penalty on the Gators, Irving completed a pass to Payne and the Maroon Tide tackled him at the Picayune 40 as time expired.

Head Coach Cody Stogner said he expected the game to be tough.

“We told our guys all week it’s going to be a war every week. The bullseye on us because we play at Picayune and we ought to be proud of that and we’ve got to answer it every week,” Stogner stated.

“We count on Jayshawn (Lee) to make big plays for us and he did tonight.”

Robinson ran 29 times for 133 yards. Darnell Smith added 86 yards on 10 carries and Carter had 31 yards on 5 rushes. Hickman completed 7 of 10 passes for 181 yards.

Picayune (5-0, 2-0) will host Hattiesburg next week.