By Curtis Rockwell, Sports Editor
The Picayune Item
MOSS POINT —
After being fed a double dose of defeat by Moss Point last season, Picayune running backs Jamal Hall and Scottie Merrill decided to double team the Tigers Friday night.
Hall and Merrill both ran for a pair of scores as Picayune amassed over 500 yards of total offense and ran roughshod over homestanding Moss Point 53-13.
Hall finished with 266 yards on 23 carries as he and Merrill helped the Tide jump out to a quick 21-0 lead and cruise to a win in the season opener for Picayune.
Moss Point, which ended Picayune’s season in the playoffs last year, falls to 1-1. The win was the seventh straight by the visiting team in the regular season in this series.
“I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but we feel like we can run the ball on anyone,” Picayune veteran head coach Dodd Lee said. “We thought we saw some things on the film that we could take advantage of. But you still have to execute, and we did that pretty well for the most part.”
Hall ran for 168 yards in the first half, and carried the ball on eight of the nine plays in Picayune’s opening drive that resulted in an 80 yard scoring march. His nine yard scoring scamper with 8:29 to play in the opening period gave the Tide a lead they would never relinquish.
“This is a new year, and we wanted to start the season off on a good note,” Hall, who ran for over 1,800 yards last season, said. “We might have been a little more motivated because of last year. We were ready to play.”
Moss Point had no answer for the Maroon Tide offensive attack all night.
“They whipped us, you have to give them credit,” third year MPHS head coach Lewis Sims said. “They were better than we were up front on both sides of the ball.”
The Tigers were playing without their starting quarterback Joseph Kirkland, who injured his knee during the week. Still, as good as the Maroon Tide offensive performance was the Picayune defense was just as strong not allowing a touchdown until there was a little over a minute left and the reserves were in the game.
“It was a team effort,” Merrill, who also starts at safety, said. “Jamal and I couldn’t have done what we did without the offensive line.”
And that line, center Kresean Bowens, guards Devin Roberts and Andrew Frierson, tackles Christian McDougle and Joey Reynolds and tight ends Malcom Faciane and Tanner Bryan, helped the Maroon Tide run for 462 yards on the night.
After Hall’s opening score, Merrill came right back with a pair of scoring runs, from 23 and 4 yards out, on Picayune’s next two possessions to make it 21-0 Tide at halftime.
Hall then countered with a nifty 47 yard scoring run mid-way through the third period to put Picayune up by four touchdowns and seal the win.
The Maroon Tide led 44-0, thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Ben Hickman, before Moss Point’s Brelan Booker ran the kickoff back 88 yards to put the Tigers on the scoreboard. Hickman, in his first varsity game, hooked up with Eric Smith on a 35 yard scoring strike and with Joel Davis on a 28 yard touchdown toss. Picayune also got a pair of safeties in the game, one when Cody Smith tackled the Tiger punter in the end zone, and Desmond Taylor scored on a 55-yard run as well. Plus, Pacer Frierson was perfect with seven extra point tries.
“I really had no idea how we would play,” Lee added. “And we also lost the turnover battle, so there are a lot of things we can improve on. But I think we played pretty well. It certainly feels much better walking off this field tonight than it did the last time we were here.”
The Tide hosts Forrest County AHS Friday.
