‘It was a war out there.’ Picayune-East Central family reunion was a physical battle
Picayune head coach Dodd Lee and his son-in-law, East Central head coach Seth Smith, did the customary post-game handshake as if it was just another Friday night football game.
Both coaches said they approached this week’s preparations as if it was just another game, but it was anything but.
“I’m kind of glad this week’s over,” Lee said.
Unless both Picayune and East Central cross paths in the playoffs, Friday’s 35-14 victory for the Maroon Tide marks the final time that Lee and Smith will face off as head coaches. Lee is retiring after 24 years as the Picayune head coach and 39 seasons overall in the coaching profession.
“I meant what I said last week when I said (Picayune) is the best team in any classification,” Smith said.
Behind 12 rushes for 214 yards and three touchdowns from senior running back Cameron Thomas, the Sun Herald No. 1 Maroon Tide (5-0, 1-0) pulled away in the second half for a crucial win to start Region 4-5A competition.
Thomas would have put an even bigger number on the ground, but he suffered an injury on a late hit out of bounds early in the fourth quarter.
“He says he got stepped on, got kicked in the ankle,” Lee said. “He’s hurting. It was a war out there.”
The difference in Friday’s game proved to be the halftime adjustments that Picayune made while leading 14-7 at the half.
“They did a good job of (ball control in the first half),” Lee said. “They had a great game plan. That’s how they had to play to win. They took some chances on defense. We finally figured out a few things and we were able to move the ball in the first half. We got in at halftime, saw our video and thought we could do some things.”
East Central (3-2, 0-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead when senior quarterback Will Young punched it in the end zone from 1 yard out at the 5:12 mark of the first quarter.
Picayune responded with 35 consecutive points, capping off the streak with a 32-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jakail Myers to junior Nick Doane with 1:12 remaining in the game.
“We threw that last touchdown pass and I kind of feel bad about it,” Lee said. “If you’re not going to cover our tight end, we’ve got to throw to him. We’ve got to let everybody know we’re going to throw to him.”
East Central responded with its second and final touchdown of the night — a 64-yard run by Teshun McGee with 20 seconds remaining.
East Central controlled time of possession for much of the first half, often asking Young to simply work his way through the middle of the Picayune line for gains of 4-5 yards at a time.
“Our goal was to keep them off the field,” Smith said. “We knew we had to play near perfect. If you miss one assignment, (Thomas) is so fast that they’re going to score. We had to eat clock and get first downs. They made some adjustments at halftime. You have to give credit to them. They’re big. They’ve got good players and they’re really well coached.”
East Central (3-2, 0-1) had been improving by the week on offense, piling up 615 yards on offense in last week’s 70-35 victory over Moss Point. On Friday, Picayune held East Central 303 yards. The Hornets had just 217 before they tacked on the two-play touchdown drive on their final possession.
“I think that’s the best defense (Lee) has had at Picayune,” Smith said. “You can’t give enough credit to (Picayune defensive coordinator Ty Trahan and his staff). They do a wonderful job.”
The plan was simple for the Maroon Tide defense.
“It was stop the run. That’s it,” Picayune linebacker/fullback Kade Turnage said. “This week, coach did a good job of showing it to us. We got it done tonight.”
“I thought we were physical,” Lee said. “We had to be physical against that bunch. They’re tough. There was some nasty football going on out there. There was some hitting.”
East Central had three players clear 70 yards rushing with Young running 23 times for 78 yards and a score, senior Dylan Grinsteinner putting up 82 yards on 16 rushes and McGee carrying nine times for 86 yards and a touchdown.
“We just need to do our job better,” Grinsteinner said. “I need to hit the hole harder. We need to block longer. They had a good game plan. In the end, we just need to play a little better. We’ll fix it on Monday.”
On Oct. 4, East Central will host Long Beach and Picayune will host Gautier.
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 11:10 PM.
