PICAYUNE — After struggling to find the end zone last week, Picayune’s running back Shaun Anderson led the Maroon Tide to a 31-10 victory with three touchdowns in the first half against D’Iberville.

Towards the end of the second quarter, the Maroon Tide gave up its first touchdown of the night when Warriors quarterback Michael Kozlowski threw for 10-yards to teammate Layton Businelle to make the score 14-7. However, what defined the rest of the game happened in a blink of an eye moments after that play.

Maroon Tide’s quarterback Tyler Penton completed a 44-yard pass to Elijah Burton to set up a 27-yard throw to an open Anderson on the next play.

“It’s always the same playing Picayune. You have to pay attention every second of every play or else they will run away with momentum,” D’Iberville coach Eric Collins said.

Picayune took the momentum going into halftime with a 21-10 lead, and kept the Warriors from reaching the end zone in the second half by utilizing a strong defensive performance led by cornerback Jermiah Stallings. Stallings nabbed two interceptions, and Jacob Brumley, who got to the Warrior quarterback twice for multiple sacks.

“I think this team can only go up. We weren’t perfect by any means, but we showed that we got better this week,” Picayune coach Dodd Lee said.

Anderson rushed for about 114 yards and a solo touchdown on the ground along with grabbing two passing touchdowns on two receptions for 52 yards from his longtime teammate Penton.

“We’ve been playing together since we were little kids in pee wee. Our connection is only getting stronger every game,” Anderson said about his quarterback Penton. “He’s something special. But this win was a team effort. Now it’s on to the next.”

Tide’s Jortin Raine found another touchdown in two consecutive games, finishing a 5-yard run through the tackles in the third quarter to bring the score to 28-10.

Tide kicker Sam Naji completed a perfect game on the pitch with four extra points and a 20-yard field goal to seal the game with 6:54 to go in the final quarter.

Picayune will host another familiar 6A contender, Pascagoula, next Friday.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.