By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

Picayune has won seven straight home playoff openers under head coach Dodd Lee.

The Maroon Tide hopes to continue that streak tonight.

Picayune hosts D’Iberville at 7 p.m., in the opening round of the Class 5A South State playoffs.

“If Hancock can beat Harrison Central, anything can happen to anybody,” Lee said. “We have to be ready to play anytime we step on the field, especially this time of year.”

The last time Picayune and D’Iberville met in the playoffs was in 2001, when the Warriors came to Picayune and won 34-31 in the Class 4A South State semifinals in overtime.

Picayune senior safety Wayne McMooain is in his fourth season of varsity action for the Tide. He has watched as his year came to a heart-breaking end the past three seasons in the playoffs.

“In the playoffs, you know that any game can be your last, so you have to be prepared and play hard every play,” McMooain said. “I don’t want this to be my last game.”

Picayune is 7-3 on the season, and finished second in Region 3-5A after beating Wayne County 27-21 last week while the Warriors finished third in Region 4-5A and ended the regular season at 5-6 overall but 5-2 in league play. D’Iberville, the defending Class 4A South State champions, beat St. Martin 24-0 Friday to clinch the third spot.

This will be the third straight season that the Maroon Tide and the Warriors have faced one another. For the past two seasons, before reclassification, the squads were in the same Division 8-4A league and met for the league title each year in the final regular season game.

Two years ago, the last time the teams met in Maroon Tide Stadium, Picayune won 30-21 to end the regular season and capture the league title. Last season, in D’Iberville, the Warriors spanked Picayune 49-21 in another showdown for the league crown.