The Picayune Maroon Tide won the team’s season opener, holding off the Poplarville Hornets 21-13 Friday night.

In the first quarter, the Maroon Tide reached the end zone after Dawson Underwood completed a 47-yard reception to Jassiah Contee. Morgan Craft scored the extra point, making it a 7-0 ball game with 1:34 left in the first quarter.

The Hornets answered back by completing a touchdown pass from Brandon Beall to Matt Will, tying the game at the 11:55 mark in the second quarter. The extra point was good by Zach Carpenter, putting the score at 7-7.

With 10:10 until halftime, the Maroon Tide completed a 10-play 60-yard drive for their second touchdown of the night. The touchdown was a three-yard goal line run from Dorian Robinson. The extra point was good by Craft making it 14-7 with 4:53 left before halftime.

Hornets got possession at the beginning of the third quarter but in just two plays, Beall threw an interception to Picayune’s Cristian James with 11:37 in the third.

Poplarville got possession back on the 9:35 mark stuck to the ground. After recovering their own fumble at Picayune’s 30-yard line, the very next play Lawrence Jamison ran in a 30 yard touchdown. The Hornets tried to catch Picayune off guard by faking the extra point but the Maroon Tide was stopped the two-point conversion.

With 6:10 on the clock, the Hornets trailed by one, 14-13.

The Maroon Tide took advantage of Poplarville’s failed two-point attempt with a 14-play 77-yard touchdown drive. Senior quarterback Dawson Underwood scored the game-clinching touchdown off a one-yard quarterback sneak with 10:36 left in the fourth quarter.

“I think we played hard played tough, we made some mistakes, we fumbled the ball at the 3rd yard line, and when you do that to a good team your chances of winning go down a lot,” said Poplarville Head Coach Jay Beech.

“It was a brutal ballgame between two programs that have lots of winning tradition. Poplarville is a great team, and I’m so proud of my guys and how they fought, when things weren’t going our way they found a way to get the job done,” said Picayune Head Coach Cody Stogner.