August 29, 2008

Maroon Tide topples Moss Point 30-22

by Carey Meitzler

Moss Point-Picayune's Jacob Kennedy threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter and the Maroon Tide

defense held off a late Moss Point rally to preserve a 30-22 victory at Dantzler Stadium.

Kennedy's first pass of the season resulted in a 46 yard touchdown to Reginald Bailey with 9:04 left in the first

quarter.  Nick Riso's point after made it 7-0.

After Moss Point missed a field goal attempt on their first possession, Kennedy hooked up with wide receiver

Jonathan Moore on a bubble screen for a 68 yard touchdown pass.   Moore caught the ball in stride as moved

laterally toward Kennedy, made a cut up field, and then bounced outside as he outraced everyone for the score.

Riso's extra point pushed the score to 14-0 with 6:00 left in the first quarter.

Moss Point cut the lead to 14-7 on their next possession on a 3 yard run by J.J. Snell.

On the ensuing kickoff, Reginald Bailey raced from his own 15 to the Moss Point 25 yard line.  Four plays later,

Kennedy lofted a perfect throw on a fade route to Chris Nixon in the right corner of the end zone for a 10 yard

touchdown.  Riso converted the point after for a 21-7 lead.

Picayune scored 10 points in the last three minutes of the half.   T'Darryl Grays weaved and bobbed through

the Tiger defense from 20 yards out.  The extra point attempt was unsuccessful due to a bad snap.

The Maroon Tide forced Moss Point to punt ball on their next set of downs and took over at their own 47 yard

line.  Kennedy was able to move his team down into field goal range and Riso nailed a 44 yarder with :02

left on the clock to give Picayune a 30-7 half time lead.

Moss Point scored with :21 left in the third quarter on a 74 yard run by Snell and Loris point after made it 30-14.

The Tigers scored again with 4:16 left in the game on a pass from Snell to Gabe King for a 10 yard touchdown

pass.  Moss Point converted a two-point conversion to make it 30-22.

Moss Point pulled off a successful on-side kick and had the ball at their own 47 yard line.  The Tigers moved

the ball to the Picayune 25 yard line.  On third down, the Maroon Tide's Tyler Kelly unloaded a big hit on the

Tiger's quarterback Quayshan Williams that forced Williams out of the game.   On fourth down, Picayune's

Brett Milner dropped Snell for a loss that gave the ball back to the Maroon Tide and secured the win.

Kennedy completed 8 of 13 passes for 165 yards.   Jamal Hall had 47 yards on 11 carries and Grays had

5 rushes for 44 yards before leaving the game with a cramp while playing defense.  Gabe Hinojosa rushed

for 25 yards on 6 attempts.

Snell led the Tigers with 201 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.

Picayune (1-0) hosts Madison Central next week, while Moss Point (0-1) will play at Biloxi.