Prep Roundup: Picayune pummels Brookhaven, Pascagoula-Laurel decided late
Brandon jumped out to a 14-0 lead over D’Iberville in the first quarter on Friday, and the homestanding Warriors were unable to overcome that margin as their season came to an end against the Bulldogs, 35-25, in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
D’Iberville trailed 21-7 late in the second quarter, and the Warriors capitalized on their defense’s only three-and-out of the night, finishing off a seven-play drive with a gadget play. It was a 49-yard hook and ladder, initiated by an 8-yard completion from Dwight Williams to Cameron Fairley, who pitched back to Justin Walley, who outran defenders to the end zone.
The Warriors appeared to be riding momentum as they picked up two first downs and consumed five minutes of game clock following the second half kickoff, but the drive stalled near midfield.
Brandon scored on their next two possessions, going 99 yards on the first and 32 yards on the latter, to all but put the game out of reach at 35-13 as the third quarter came to an end.
“We could never establish anything consistently inside,” Warriors coach Larry Dolan said. “They’ve got a very good defense, and we were kind of undersized a little bit, but I was proud of our kids playing hard and gave ourselves a chance even in the fourth quarter where we still felt we had a shot at it.
“I told our kids that it was going to come down to who plays the best and who makes the most mistakes, and I think we made more mistakes than they did. They’re a great football team, and with a great team you just can’t do that.
“We accomplished our goal this year of getting in the playoffs, and we hope we can establish that tradition down here,” Dolan added. “We’ve got to win one; we’ve got to get in the playoffs and win one.”
The Bulldogs appeared to have all the momentum late in the third quarter on a triple play — two huge defensive plays, followed by a home run by the offense. The Bulldogs defense sacked Williams for an 11-yard loss on third down; on fourth down they blocked the Warriors’ punt attempt. On first down, their offense connected for a 32-yard passing score, and a 35-13 lead.
The Warriors responded with a 12-play drive that covered 42 yards, capped by a 1-yard Justin Walley carry for the score. The 2-point conversion pass attempt failed.
The Warriors scored again on a 19-yard toss from Williams to Colton Deshazo in the end zone with 1:17 remaining on the game clock. The 2-point conversion run was stopped at the one yard line.
Justin Walley led D’Iberville ball carriers with 161 yards and three touchdowns. Williams completed 10 of 19 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.
The Warriors ended their season with a 9-3 record.
Brandon (9-4) will travel to Petal in the next round of the playoffs.
Picayune 49, Brookhaven 10: The Maroon Tide (12-0) made short work of their first-round opponent in the Class 5A playoffs behind a five-touchdown night from senior running back Cam Thomas.
Thomas ran 17 times for 282 yards with his touchdowns coming on runs of 48, 45, 17, 16 and 50 yards.
Kade Turnage added a 3-yard touchdown and freshman Donte Dowdell contributed a 73-yard scoring run.
Quarterback Isaac Hickman completed four of six passes for 64 yards.
Leonard Taylor and Dorian Robinson had interceptions for the Maroon Tide, which hosts Laurel in the second round of the playoffs.
West Jones 56, East Central 20: East Central senior running back Teshun McGee ran for three touchdowns, but that wasn’t nearly enough as the Hornets (7-5) had their season come to an end on the road in the 5A playoffs.
McGee’s touchdown runs were for 4, 64 and 54 yards. As a team, East Central ran 58 times for 329 yards.
West Jones quarterback Alan Follis ran 13 times for 137 yards and four touchdowns.
West Jones (12-0) hosts Wayne County in the second round of the playoffs.
Resurrection 54, West Tallahatchie 20: RCS jumped out to a 33-0 lead with three minutes left in the first half and cruised to a first-round win in the Class 1A playoffs.
The Eagles will host Richton, which is 8-5, in the second round.
Poplarville 23, North Pike 20: Three different players got in the end zone as the Hornets improved to 7-5 to set up a third-round battle with South Pike (13-0) in Poplarville.
Poplarville had three rushing touchdowns — a 16-yarder by Greg Swan, a 37-yard run by Caziah Daniels and a 1-yard run by Zac Owen.
Newton County 29, Moss Point 22: Newton County put together a 65-yard touchdown drive in 36 seconds late in the fourth quarter to pull out a tight game in Decatur.
The game was tied at 22-22 prior to the late score by Newton County, which improved to 8-5.
Newton County will host Lawrence County, which stunned Greene County 17-14, in the third round of the 4A playoffs.
Moss Point’s season ends with a record of 4-7.
Petal 31, Biloxi 0: The Petal defense completely shut down Biloxi, holding the Indians’ offense to just 22 yards.
Biloxi, which punted seven times in the game, ends its season with a record of 8-4.
Petal (11-1) hosts Brandon in the next round.
Oak Grove 42, Ocean Springs 14: The Greyhounds (5-7) managed just 17 yards of offense in the first half as they fell behind 35-7 at the half.
Oak Grove (9-3) travels to Gulfport in the second round of the 6A playoffs.
Laurel 21, Pascagoula 18: The fourth quarter proved to be Pascagoula’s undoing in a tight game in Laurel.
In the fourth quarter, Pascagoula was held without a first down, committed two turnovers and gave up a special teams touchdown to the Golden Tornadoes.
Laurel (10-2) will travel to Picayune in the next round of the 5A playoffs.
South Pike 48, Pass Christian 6: The Eagles improved to 13-0 and dominated throughout to advance to the third round of the Class 4A playoffs. Pass Christian’s season comes to an end with a record of 8-4.
