A season-opening Coast classic ended with a scuffle and a shoulder ride for a sophomore

The Oyster Bowl is only two years old, but it’s hard to imagine a future Pass Christian-Long Beach football game matching the drama of Thursday night’s season opener.

Pass Christian held on in the tense final moments to pull off a 34-31 victory over Long Beach before a large crowd at Lumpkin-Magee Stadium.

It was an exciting contest that was somewhat tarnished by a late clash between the two teams.

Long Beach quarterback Cade Crosby, who had an exceptional passing performance, scrambled out of the pocket toward the Pass Christian sideline on what appeared to be the final play of the game. He was hit by multiple Pirates as he neared the sideline.

The Pass Christian players began to celebrate what they thought was a game-ending play on defense, but that was put to a halt when a penalty flag was tossed near where Crosby had been hit.

At that point, some of the Long Beach players began to rush over to the Pass Christian sideline. One Bearcat crashed into a Pass Christian player as he was looking the other direction, sending his helmet flying and knocking him violently to the ground.

School officials and coaches from both teams quickly intervened and the two teams were sent back to their sidelines.

The flag handed Long Beach one more opportunity to get in the end zone with an untimed play, but Pass sophomore Dylan Necaise again played the role of hero with an interception to finish off the game.

Necaise, who also caught a touchdown as a receiver, was lifted onto the shoulders of coaches and teammates as he ran out of bounds at the end of regulation.

“It was crazy. (Long Beach) said they were going to beat us really bad,” Necaise said.

Long Beach coach Philip Pigott, who is in his first season, wasn’t entirely sure what took place to hand his team that last play.

“It was hard to get an explanation in that moment,” he said. “There was a lot going on. The bench cleared. I don’t know if it was a flag on the bench. I don’t know what it is.

“All the credit goes to Pass. They came ready to play. They played hard. They’ve got kids that fight, don’t go down easy.”

Pass Christian junior quarterback Dustin Allison and Crosby delivered a nice quarterback duel.

Allison completed 9-of-19 passes for 233 yards and accounted for three touchdowns — a 64-yard toss to Necaise for the first score of the second half and two rushing touchdowns. Crosby hit 21 of 28 attempts for 277 yards and four touchdowns.

Allison hobbled off the field in the fourth quarter, but returned to play through the pain late in the fourth quarter.

“Dustin was amazing,” Necaise said. “He set me up a whole lot. He set up the whole team and we had a good ground game.”

The game had a sloppy start with each team turning the ball over twice in the first half, but Pass Christian began to find its stride on offense as junior running back Gordon Ward began to get the ball more. He finished with 12 carries for 54 yards, including two touchdowns.

Ward’s 21-yard scoring run with 6:32 left gave the Pirates the lead for good at 34-31.

“We started building last year with some success, wins over Moss Point and St. Stanislaus,” Pass Christian coach Casey Wittman said. “We’re a young team. We start three seniors on both sides of the ball. They worked so hard and with a lot of passion. They want to be good. If you’ve got a team that’s got that, you’ve got a good chance.”

Crosby successfully teamed with senior Logan Matherne in the passing game all night as the two players hooked up on three touchdowns – 13, 23 and 34 yards.

Jay’Quawn McCall led Long Beach on the ground with 10 carries for 78 yards.

This story was originally published August 17, 2018 at 12:50 AM.