The Picayune Maroon Tide clinched the team’s second win of the season after beating the Jefferson Davis Jaguars 28-7 Friday night.

The first half was a fast start for the Maroon Tide offense by putting up a 21-0 run. In the second half, both teams put up 7-7 points each. Picayune’s defense was strong, forcing multiple punt situations and even picked up a pick-six that unfortunately was called back for a holding penalty.

Dante Dowdell scored the Maroon Tide’s first touchdown of the night through a short three-yard run, putting his team up 7-0 with 7:15 to play in the first quarter. Darrell Smith rushed for the Maroon Tide’s second touchdown to end the first quarter ahead 14-0.

In the second quarter Chris Davis coasted to the end zone with a 37-yard touchdown run. This gave the Maroon Tide a 21-0 lead with 7:06 remaining in the quarter. In the third quarter, quarterback Brady Robertson connected with Smith for a touchdown pass, growing Picayune’s lead to 28-0 with just over 11 minutes remaining.

Jefferson Davis finally cracked their cold streak and was the last to score on the night. They rushed for a 20- plus-yard touchdown with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter.

Stats

Robertson threw for 88 yards, was 3/5 in completions with one touchdown pass. Dowdell carried for 123 yards on 16 carries. Smith carried for 25 yards on four carries, and Davis carried for 53 yards on seven carries. The Maroon Tide had a total of 205 rushing yards. In the air, Smith had 74 receiving yards off two receptions and Tryan Warren had 26 yards off one reception. Friday, the team racked up 100 total yards.

In two games Picayune has given away only two touchdowns, a good stat Head Coach Cody Stogner said he wishes was better. He said those two touchdowns are a result of the team not being in the best shape and a lack of being fully focused.

“Obviously if we can hold everybody to just to 7 points I like our chances in a lot of football games, but we just can’t lose focus, we got to be able to play all 48 minutes,” said Stogner.

Stogner said they played a really good first half, but this is the second week in a row that they came out sluggish in the second half. He did credit his players for playing a little bit harder for a little bit longer this past week. He hopes that continues to grow because Stogner has set a standard of playing strong in all four quarters. Sooner or later Picayune will have to win a game in the fourth quarter and Stogner wants his team prepared and to excel when that moment comes.

“At some point we’re going to have to win the game in the fourth quarter… I do have to be impressed of our kids though, they did play super hard early on, they just got to be able to do it the full game,” said Stogner.

Next, the Picayune Maroon Tide will host the Gulfport Admirals this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Both teams are currently 2-0 on the season.