Picayune perfection: Tide scores on every drive in first-round steamrolling
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- Picayune scored on eight straight possessions, routing George County 55-7 in 6A opener.
- Xavier Dennis rushed for four TDs and posted his fifth 200-yard game in six.
- Senior Nolan Wilson led player-run meetings and shifted team leadership before playoffs.
Eight possessions, eight touchdowns and one emphatic turnaround performance.
Picayune touched pay dirt on every drive of a 55-7 shelling of former region rival George County in the opening round of the 6A playoffs.
Xavier Dennis scored the Maroon Tide’s first three touchdowns and finished with four in what would be his fifth 200-yard game in the last six. The win comes on the heels of Picayune watching its 28-game district win streak come to an abrupt halt in the regular season finale against Pearl River Central.
It was a wake-up call for a program whose players had never experienced such a loss. But it was those players who took the initiative to right the ship before it tilted any further.
“Our players took it upon themselves to have player meetings before the practices,” coach Cody Stogner said. “Us coaches, we got out of the way and I think we finally saw this team become a player-led team. When you have player-led teams that’s when things can get serious and be dangerous.”
At the center of the leadership takeover is Picayune’s high-profile edge rusher Nolan Wilson. The Alabama commit affected the game on the field when he slid inside to defensive tackle and promptly put a stop to George County’s effective inside rushing attack.
But it was off the field where Nolan made the greatest impact by making it his responsibility to rally the troops before the postseason began.
“I had to step up personally, I had to show my leadership,” Wilson said. “I had to be more on my team. We had to be a conjoined person. We can’t be single beings. We are one team and I really pushed that this week.”
Wilson had a senior speak to the team before practice each day of the week. It was Jordan Hathorne who led the meeting before Friday’s kickoff.
The evidence in the effectiveness of the leadership shift was written on the scoreboard by the end of the night.
“(Wilson) was the spark that got it going,” Stogner said. “It helps when you have your four-stars taking control of the team like that. His leadership really showed up. Not just leading by example, but he was a vocal leader. He’s a good role model for the younger guys because he loves everybody on this football team.”
The game wasn’t an immediate runaway victory. George County had the ball 30 yards from the end zone with an opportunity to make it a one score game in the second quarter. A Markell McGill sack forced the Rebels to punt, at which point Jamari Hathorne put his stamp on the evening.
Hathorne blew the game open with a 58-yard touchdown run and followed that up by picking off a George County pass inside two minutes to go in the half. That set up a 41-yard scoring toss from Colt Robertson to Ontario Wilkins and gave the Tide a comfortable 34-7 lead at the break.
The win is the fifth consecutive first-round victory for Picayune. The Maroon Tide have reached South State in each of the previous four seasons, but have plans for more than a semifinal this go around.
“If we keep on playing how we played today, we’re going all the way to state,” Wilson said.
Picayune will host a Hancock team fresh off an upset win over West Jones next week. The two met in October where the Tide raced to a 59-28 win.
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 10:55 PM.
