Unbeaten Hattiesburg held off a late Picayune rally to defeat the Maroon Tide 39-35 on Friday and claim the 6A South State championship at Lee-Triplett Stadium.
Down by four in the final two minutes, the Maroon Tide moved into the red zone on senior tailback Darrell Smith’s pass to wingback BJ Ducre down to the Hattiesburg 13.
With time running out, Picayune took three shots into the end zone with Smith catching what was believed to be a TD but ruled out of bounds. Ducre also caught a ball out of bounds in the back of the end zone.
And on fourth down, quarterback Bam Parker’s pass with 10 seconds to play was just out of Smith’s reach in the end zone and the Tigers took over to run out the clock.
“Some things didn’t go our way,” said Picayune coach Cody Stogner, whose team ended its season at 11-3. “But our guys fought their butts off for 48 minutes.”
The game was back and forth the entire night and included three Picayune touchdowns nullified by penalties, two of which were controversial.
Down 19-17, Picayune thought it had retaken the lead on the last play of the first half when Parker heaved a Hail Mary that was tipped and caught by Darius Hathorne for a touchdown. But a holding penalty erased the go-ahead score.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Smith scored on a 35-yard run, but it was called back by a holding penalty. The Tide had to settle for a 31-yard Edgar Cruz field goal to break a 32-32 tie with 8:39 to play.
With 3:25 to play, Hattiesburg senior quarterback Deuce Vance put the Tigers back on top for good at 39-35 with his fourth touchdown toss of the night—a 12-yard pass to Ty Barnett.
Picayune held a 10-point lead twice in the first half.
After forcing the Tigers to punt on their opening drive, Picayune was methodical on its initial drive, picking up chunks plays with its potent run game that covered 73 yards in 14 plays with Smith capping the march with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Smith busted free on a 63-yard run to the Hattiesburg 12 on the Tide’s next drive. That led to a 24-yard Cruz field goal to culminate a 10-play, 72-yard drive early in the second quarter and push the Picayune lead to 10-0.
Vance threw a 37-yard pass to Ty Keys to put Hattiesburg deep in Tide territory at the 13. Hattiesburg used some trickeration with a direct snap to running back Hayden Leverette, who tossed a 14-yard touchdown to Vance. Eugene Powell’s extra point capped an 8-play, 72-yard drive for the Tigers with 5:51 to play in the first half.
Ducre caught a Parker pass that went 45 yards to set up Triston Cooper scoring around the left side for a 7-yard touchdown run. The Cruz point after was good to put Picayune up 17-7 with just over four minutes left in the half.
But on third-and-30, Vance tossed a 49-yard touchdown to Keys as Hattiesburg responded. The point after, however, was blocked and the Tigers trailed 17-13 with just over two minutes remaining in the half.
Hattiesburg then recovered an onside kick near midfield.
Aided by a pair of Picayune penalties, Vance broke loose for a 27-yard touchdown run. The two-point try was picked off by Logan Hall and the Tigers took a 19-17 lead with just over a minute to play in the half.
In the third quarter, Smith busted off a 55-yard run for a score that was nullified by a block in the back inside the 10, but four plays later, the senior scored from a yard out to cap a 13-play, 65-yard drive. Cruz added the point after to put Picayune back on top at 24-19.
On fourth-and-27, Vance threw a 42-yard touchdown to Keys. The two-point try failed and the Tigers were up 25-24 in the third quarter.
Picayune muffed the ensuing kickoff and the Tigers took over at the Tide 35.
Vance increased the Hattiesburg lead with a 1-yard plunge and Powell added the point after to push the lead to 32-24 with 2:58 to play in the quarter.
Smith went off the right side for a 63-yard touchdown run and Cooper ran in the two-point try to tie the game at 32-32.
On its possession, Hattiesburg attempted a fake punt that failed and Picayune took over at the Tigers 40, which led to Cruz booting a 31-yard field goal that gave the Tide their final lead of the night at 35-32.
Hattiesburg (13-0) will face Grenada on Friday in the Tigers’ backyard at M.M. Roberts Stadium for the 6A state title after the Chargers defeated Warren Central for the North State championship.
