Picayune football downs Long Beach, remains undefeated behind explosively deep roster
There aren’t many high school football teams that would be comfortable resting a Power Five-committed star running back in a late-season district contest.
But there aren’t many programs built quite like Picayune.
Oregon commit Dante Dowdell watched from the sideline as No. 2 running back Chris Davis, who holds a collection of Division I offers of his own, and No. 3 running back Darrell Smith, who was recently offered by Boston College, helped lead the Maroon Tide to a 49-13 win over Long Beach.
Cody Stogner, head coach of the reigning 5A champs, has the luxury of resting his premier talent thanks to the bevy of athletes on his roster with offers to play college ball at the highest level.
And beyond them, he also has a litany of grinding glue guys who act to weld the team together.
“Everybody is important, we got 52 on the roster and all 52 are just as important as the next guy,” Stogner said. “We’re fortunate enough to have a lot of guys committed to big schools, it’s all the way from those guys to the sophomores that are last the get out the locker room. Every one of them is as important as the other.
“I think our guys know that. They respect each other because of it. We always talk about, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. I like this team a lot because we are together.”
Seven different players were responsible for Picayune’s seven touchdowns Friday, highlighting the depth the Maroon Tide roll out on the field on any given week.
“I think they’re all the star players on offense,” Stogner said. “We don’t have just one star. You look at it and we’ve got guys we can put in the backfield and tote the rock 20 to 25 times a game. As long as the offensive line is doing their job and (quarterback) Brady (Robertson) is out in front and doing his job, I really believe it doesn’t matter. We don’t have one star, I think we have 11 stars on offense.”
When you sift through the recruiting rankings and the gaudy numbers, you’ll find a group of contributors who are churning the wheels of the Picayune offense.
If you ask Dowdell, it all starts with the bruising senior fullback Darnell Smith.
“Darnell has an impact on every play,” Dowdell said. “I had two 98-yard touchdowns in this season and both of them you can see the blocks that Darnell gave me. Especially the one against Vancleave, he knocked the dude out just blocking him... Every play that you see me break, he’s blocking stuff.”
The second-level break that Dowdell and Davis see on nearly every carry is courtesy of an offensive line that has seemingly little trouble moving bodies out of the way.
“Peyton Wells, Brennen Williams, Quinton Haynes, Gage Thibodeaux, Donell Lewis and BJ Ducre... those are the guys that make everything happen,” Stogner said.
The running backs are even getting help from their quarterback, who has no qualms about getting physical with opposing defenders.
“Getting to block for my guys, I like doing that” Robertson said. “I’m a head-hunter. I used to play linebacker... I like hitting, I like blocking. I’m glad we get to throw it around a little bit, too.”
Robertson eclipsed 500 passing yards on the year against the Bearcats and threw two touchdowns to two different targets.
Picayune isn’t just a stable of horses behind their mauling linemen, though. It also has a front seven that would make every coach in America envious.
Of the multiple defenders in the box sporting a next-level offer, the most intriguing is junior Amarion Tyson. Standing at just 5-foot-6, he’s difficult to spot after the snap. But if you wait for the ball carrier to hit the turf, that’s usually when you’ll find Tyson picking himself up off the runner.
Tyson doesn’t fit the physical mold of a Power Five linebacker, but he roams the center of the defense for the Maroon Tide and has an uncanny ability to zero-in on his targets and arrive to the ball with impressive quickness.
Following a sophomore season during which he racked up nearly 200 total tackles, it was a matter of time before the production outweighed the size. Earlier this month, the call came from Oregon, which gave him his first offer.
“He’s a football player, that’s the bottom line, he’s a football player,” Stogner said. “He’s got a knack for the ball. He loves the game of football, he studies it a lot. Every chance gets to get on the field he’s going full speed. How you see him playing on Friday nights is how he is from the from the first time the whistle blows on Monday at practice.”
Tyson entered the Long Beach game with 112 stops and played a key factor in preventing the Bearcats from picking up a first down until the fourth quarter.
His defense will be put to the test next week in the Region 4-5A district title game against Gautier.
“We approach every week like we’re 0-0,” Stogner said. “Every week is a playoff week for us. Every week is a championship week... “Really what it’s going to come down to is how much effort are we going to put in? It’s going to be a great high school football game. It’s what people pay money to come see.”
Picayune and Gautier will clash next Thursday at 7 p.m. on the Maroon Tide’s home turf.
