Star RB and former soccer player shine as Maroon Tide score key 4-6A win in early showdown

Don’t call them the Miracle Tide.

The Maroon Tide had been here before and knew how to handle it. Picayune (5-2, 1-0) turned a 21-14 halftime deficit into an emphatic 38-28 win over key region challenger Pascagoula (4-2, 0-1) Friday at home to open Region 4-6A with a statement win.

Darrell Smith poured in over 200 yards and four touchdowns in another masterful outing for the state’s leading rusher. The Louisiana commit tied the game with a 52-yard score on the first play of the second half and put it on ice with a 46-yard TD romp in the final minute.

It was the third time the Tide successfully rallied from a halftime deficit this season.

“You can’t panic, that’s why there’s 48 minutes and not five minutes,” Picayune coach Cody Stogner told the Sun Herald. “Bad things happen, adversity happens. But what makes you strong is how you overcome the adversity.”

Pascagoula immediately applied pressure with two 60-plus yard touchdown passes from Southern Miss commit Silas Corder to Darius Carter. Smith responded to both with his own two scores, but a one-yard scoring run by Panther running back Amarie Jackson went unanswered until the second half.

But that’s when the Tide gained control.

Pascagoula was forced into three consecutive punts and Brandon Parker gave Picayune the lead with a nine-yard bubble screen toss to BJ Ducre in the third quarter.

Picayune extended its lead to 10 after recovering a fumbled punt return and hitting a 27-yard field goal. The Panthers would give themselves a chance with Jackson’s second touchdown, but “Robo” Smith ended all hope for the visitors with his game-sealing score.

“(Smith’s) will to win is unbelievable,” Stogner said. “He’s such a great role model, too. If you get to know him and talk to him off the field, he’s one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever been a part of and I’m blessed to have him in my life. He’s the best player in the state.”

Smith racked up 138 yards on his touchdown runs alone and did it all in front of former teammate, Mr. Football winner and current Nebraska running back Dante Dowdell.

He also did so while rarely leaving the field. The senior also plays corner and is the holder on special teams. It’s his never-ceasing motor that earned him his nickname.

“This offseason I worked, I put in the work day in and day out,” Smith said. “I guess this is what I deserve.”

Smith attributes Picayune’s resiliency and ability to respond to every punch thrown to established standards of leaderships within the program.

“The leaders got to lead,” Smith said. “Stogner expects the leaders to lead so that’s what we did. Adversity is going to happen, it’s how you react to it.”

Emerging force

Lurking on the Picayune defensive line is a game-changing force that entered high school a soccer player. Nolan Wilson is halfway through his second season as an American football player and his name was relatively unknown when the year began.

In a span of one week, beginning Sept. 30, Wilson was offered scholarships from nine of the biggest names in college football — beginning with Alabama. Wilson also has received offers from Southern Cal, Michigan, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Auburn and Texas A&M.

“He’s still learning football, but he’s got great upside,” Stogner said of the 6-foot-5, 231 lb. Wilson . “He hit the genetic lottery and he has a freakish motor. I’m glad he’s on our team and he’s going to get better and better.”

Wilson entered Friday with seven tackles for loss, two sacks, a pass deflection and three forced fumbles and he spent the evening moving Panther linemen around to help limit Pascagoula’s ground attack.

The junior is quickly learning the Picayune Way, as well, and benefiting from a program that has pumped out several Division I athletes in recent years.

“I learned to never give up,” Wilson said. “If you got a bad play, you got to make the next play. You got to make sure you make that play or get a teammate to make that play. It’s all about teamwork.”

While Week 1 in the region produced a critical win over a primary challenger, Picayune still has four more games with a three-time district champion-sized target on its back to fight through.

The road continues with West Harrison next week. Stogner keeps his team motivated by declaring each week the district championship and this one is no different.

“It doesn’t matter what the records are because, to me, every game is a playoff game,” Stogner said.

Despite mass production loss on both sides of the ball from a year ago and a hyper-competitive region that also features a still-looming George County team, the Maroon Tide are eager to continue proving they’re the rightful owner of the throne.

“Every team believes they can beat Picayune, but when you get out here you’re going to have to show it,” Wilson said. “You can’t just talk, you got to show it.”