The Picayune Maroon Tide will face the undefeated Vancleave Bulldogs on the road this Friday, Sept. 30.

Head Coach Cody Stogner said Vancleave is a hard nosed team that is really good offensively with a talented running back.

They will establish their run game then spread their opponent’s defense out for potential play action.

“They kind of play just like us,” he said.

After looking through film of previous games, Stogner said Vancleave looks a little better than they did last year.

Last year’s game finished with Picayune on top but the score was huge, ending at 69-42.

Like every week and no matter the opponent, Stogner makes it clear that their preparation is all about the Maroon Tide football team.

“We’re working on us,” said Stogner when asked about this week’s preparation. “We had a great week of preparation so we are looking forward to Friday night and hoping we get a little bit better each time out on that field.”

As district continues to roll on Stogner will look to his seniors to guide the Maroon Tide through.

“This is their team, this is their last shot at getting things gone…They got the experience of being here before and they know what’s expected so it’s totally up to them,” he said.

Stogner was also pleased by how the team capped of the non-district schedule, the Maroon Tide went undefeated and the players learned a lot about themselves in the process.

The only disappointment was that Stogner wasn’t pleased with the 12 fumbles and lack of forced turnovers.

“But that’s something we’ve been working on,” he said.

Come Friday, Stogner said it will come down to the Maroon Tide executing their game plan, overlooking Vancleave’s undefeated record so far and playing solid Picayune football.

Kick off is set for 7:30 p.m.