Picayune (5-4) takes on Pascagoula (6-3) this Friday hoping to bounce back from their disappointing loss to Long Beach last week.

“Looking back at the game, we had every opportunity in the world to win it and we didn’t,” Maroon Tide Head Coach Dodd Lee said.

Lee has been happy with the way practice has been going this week.

“I thought we’ve had a great week of practice. Our attitude and attention to detail has been great. I told the guys we need to all point the finger at ourselves. We have two games left and if we win out, we win the division, but that can be said for more than one team,” Lee said.

Junior quarterback Skylar Bowman tweaked his hamstring in last week’s loss, but he practiced Monday and Tuesday, Lee said. He also said it has been Bowman’s best week of practice and will start Friday.

As for junior running back Josh Littles, Lee said he probably could have played Littles Friday, but he got stepped on in practice last Wednesday and it was his decision to hold him out of Friday’s game. Lee expects Littles to start Friday.

Pascagoula will pose a tough obstacle for Picayune’s march to win district.

“They’re a well-coached football team, they have always been good and I expect a hard-fought football game that is probably gonna be won or lost in the fourth quarter,” Lee said.

Pascagoula relies heavily on their running game. Junior running back Reginald Hunter, Jr. has been one of the area’s most feared runners with 183 carries for 1,124 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. Lee said they will have to contain Hunter, Jr. and make stops on third down. In the last game, the Tide gave up eight third-down conversions when Long Beach was faced with 7 yards or more to go, Lee said.

Looking at Pascagoula’s defense, the Tide will need to make plays in the air.

“They’re gonna load the box and play 2 shell or man coverage. When we throw the ball, we’re gonna have to execute it; we also need to block and tackle well,” Lee said.

Picayune needs wins Friday and next week against Pearl River Central to win the division.