Maroon Tide gets first win

Published 2:59 pm Tuesday, September 11, 2007

With solid play in the first and fourth quarter and a little luck in-between the Picayune Maroon Tide swallowed the Madison Central Jaguars 28-17 on Friday night.

Picayune bookended the Jaguars with 14 point quarters in the first and fourth to score all 28 of their points.

“Any win and all wins are big for me,” Picayune head coach Dodd Lee said after the big road win. “I don’t care who it is or where it is at, a win is a win.”

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The Tide didn’t waste anytime getting on the board as T’Darryl Grays returned the opening kick, a pooch kick, 70 yards for a touchdown to give Picayune a 7-0 lead with a little under 12 minutes left in the first quarter.

“It was a good run and we must have made a block or two,” Dodd said.

After forcing Madison Central to punt the Maroon Tide got going quickly again. Senior tailback Albert Richard broke Picayune’s fifth play from scrimmage for a 36-yard touchdown to put the Maroon Tide up 14-0.

Unfortunately for Picayune, Richard injured his ankle in the second quarter and never returned but senior Drew Cole proved to be a productive replacement rushing for 125 yards on 18 carries.

Cole also scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“Drew really stepped it up. He played corner and running back too, he really did a good job,” Dodd said.

Madison Central managed to tie the game in the second quarter as quarterback Peyton Johnson tossed a pair of touchdown passes. Johnson’s first was a swing pass from three yards out to Tamarco Taylor, his second a 24-yard touchdown to Xavien Griffen.

The Jaguars took a brief lead in the third quarter as Mitch Huff connected a 38-yard field goal to put Madison Central in front 17-14 with 8:37 left in the third. The field goal came after the Jaguars had a touchdown called back to the 20-yard line due to a block in the back.

Picayune received the ball after Madison Central’s field goal and drove deep into the Jaguars’ territory but a fumble cost the Maroon Tide the possession and Madison Central took over at their own 21 with 48 seconds remaining in the third.

But when the Jaguars seemed to be taking control of the game, another mistake gave away all their momentum as Johnson fumbled the snap on the first play of the fourth quarter and Picayune recovered, taking over at the 16-yard line.

The Jaguars defense held firm and forced Picayune into a fourth down situation. The Maroon Tide elected to kick but Madison Central lined up offsides, giving the Tide the yardage they needed for a first down.

“That’s why we lose, we can’t do the little things,” Madison Central head coach Bobby Hall said after the game.

A few plays later, Cole dashed into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown to put PHS back in the lead 21-17.

With 1:21 left in the game, Greys got his second touchdown of the night on a 1-yard tote that put the Maroon Tide up by the final of 28-17.

“They figured out something on our defense in the fourth quarter, I don’t know what it was,” Hall said. “We had some things going for us offensively, we just didn’t execute and they got to moving the ball on us and shortened the game, we didn’t many more chances.”

The win improves Picayune’s record to 1-1 on the season while Madison Central falls to 0-2.

“Give Picayune credit, they’ve got a good football team, they played good,” Hall said.

The Maroon Tide hosts Slidell High Friday.