The Picayune Maroon Tide rolled over the Gautier Gators Friday night, beating them 62-38 in a game that got more intense in the second half.
The Tide started out strong, scoring three touchdowns before the end of the first quarter but for some reason their defense was spotty in the second half. ,
But in the first half of the game, it was all Maroon Tide, ending with a score of 35-6.
Star running back Josh Little put the Tide on the board early in the game, scoring on a 19-yard run with 10:48 left in the first.
The next three scoring plays by the Tide that quarter took place when quarterback Skylar Bowman ran the ball 13 yards with 7:29 remaining and running back David Barker ran the ball a yard across the goal line with 3:50 left.
Gators running back Deandre Torrey ensured his team would not be shut out in the first half by carrying the ball 31 yards in the middle of the first quarter. But a failed extra point attempt put them at 14-6 with 6:43 left to play in the first quarter.
The Tide would cross the end zone two more times before halftime, first when Littles ran the ball with 8:46 remaining in the half and again with only 1:48 left to play before the break when he carried the ball 24 yards to the end zone. Successful extra point attempts brought the score to 35-6 as they headed to the field house.
But when the Gators returned to the field, they found a second wind. With 7:47 left in the third quarter, eight plays and two first downs would bring Torrey within striking distance to bring the score to 35-12 after their attempt at a two-point conversion failed.
Littles answered right back, carrying the ball 44 yards to the 10 yard line, allowing D.J. Holt to capitalize on the next play, and up the score to 42-12 with 5:44 left in the third quarter.
The Gators would then use their next possession to drive the ball forward 68 yards the end zone through six plays to bring the score to 42-18 when Gators quarterback Kameron Kincaid completed a pass to running back Sirshamus Smith. The subsequent two-point conversion attempt failed.
It seemed as though the game would move to the next quarter without another score, but Bowman ran for a last minute touchdown with no time left on the clock making the score 48-16.
The fourth quarter is where the Gators attempted to picked up momentum, and the Tide appeared to be losing steam.
On the first play of that quarter Kincaid would complete a pass from the Gators’ 25-yard line to Torrey, who carried the ball the rest of the way to score with 11:37 left in the game. A successful two-point conversion attempt by running back James Williams would bring the Gators just a little closer, but the Tide still led 48-26.
When the Tide failed to capitalize on their next possession, the Gators took over. Two plays later a 50-yard pass that allowed Fairley to cross the end zone and another failed two-point conversion attempt brought the score to 48-32.
Just when the Gators thought they were getting close, the Tide answered back with a successful six-play drive for a total of 51 yards, commencing in a 40-yard run by Littles to bring the score to 55-32 with the successful extra point attempt.
Each team would score once more before the final buzzer. The Gators completed the biggest play of the game, an 81-yard pass from Kincaid to Williams and from Williams to Torrey, bringing the score to 55-38 with 5:42 remaining.
The last score came from the Tide, who utilized eight plays to allow Barker to successfully carry the ball 11 yards to the end zone with 1:49 remaining.
Tide Head Coach Dodd Lee plans to work on the team’s defense before they travel to D’iberville next week.
“We’ll take 10 to 12 plays off this film and we’ll implement them in defense before next week,”
He also took responsibility for the Tide losing momentum in the second half.
“We just weren’t fundamentally sound and we weren’t coached very well and that’s my fault,” Lee said.