Picayune’s Maroon Tide fell to Laurel’s Golden Tornadoes Friday night in a game that was close all the way to the end.

For much of the game, the score remained tied. The Maroon Tide was only able to keep a one touchdown lead through much of the first half, but a late drive in the second quarter ended the first half in a 21-21 tie when Laurel’s quarterback Sinclair Ulmer completed a one yard pass to wide receiver Brandon Gordon with only 13 second on the clock, sending both teams to the locker room with a tide score at halftime.

The second half of the game played out much the same way. Each time the Tide edged out a lead, the Tornadoes answered right back with a touchdown of its own.

The trend continued until close to the end of the fourth quarter, when the Tide was in the middle of a drive to break a 35-35 tie with only minutes left in the game. A pass play by Tyler Penton to wide receiver V.J. Holt was intercepted by the Tornadoes’ Levi Walker, giving Laurel control of the ball that the team would capitalize on seven plays later when Zias Perryman ran the ball seven yards to take the lead 42-35, leaving only 1:45 left on the clock.

The Tide’s next possession looked on target to tie the game again, until a fumble gave the ball back to Laurel only three plays into the drive.

Laurel would eventually relinquish control of the ball back to Picayune, but the Tide was only able to get two plays in before time ran out.

“They outplayed us a little bit, our kids were good enough to win but we didn’t quite get there,” said Picayune Head Football Coach Dodd Lee.

Even though the Tide is now out of the playoffs, the team had a successful night scoring wise.

The team took the lead early in the game when Penton ran the ball one yard for the first touch down of the game. With 7:23 left on the clock in the first and Tide kicker Sami Naji completing his point after touchdown attempt, the score was 7-0. Naji completed each of his five PAT attempts.

Other Maroon Tide scoring plays included a two-yard run by running back Shaun Anderson with 5:24 in the second, a completed pass from Penton to Anderson for five yards in the second with 47 seconds on the clock, a six yard run by Brian Taylor with 6:51 left in the third, and a stunning 49-yard touchdown run by Anderson in the fourth with 7:22 left in the fourth.

Scoring plays made by Laurel include a 21-yard run by Perryman with 4:17 left in the first, a two-yard run by Perryman in the second with 3:47 left, a 40-yard run by Ulmer with 53 seconds left in the third and a 13 yard touchdown pass from Ulmer to Gordon with 6:13 left in the fourth. Laurel’s kicker would only complete three of his five PAT attempts, but a two point conversion that involved a pass from Ulmer to Juan Nelson at the end of the second quarter made up for the deficit.

“Our seniors have had a great career, we did a lot of good things out there tonight but just came up short against a good football team,” Lee said after the loss.