By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

PICAYUNE — The renewal of the D’Iberville-Picayune rivalry is this week’s Sonic of South Mississippi Big Game of the Week.
The Warriors travel to Lee-Triplett Stadium Friday night for their annual showdown with the Maroon Tide.
At the beginning of the season, if someone would have told you that just one of these teams would be unbeaten entering this match-up most would not have picked the Warriors to be that squad but yet here we are. D’Iberville is 2-0 after smacking Gautier 33-12 last week, while perennial state power Picayune comes in at 1-1 but is coming off an impressive 35-0 win over Slidell Northshore last week.

Even though Picayune has played in three straight South State championship games and won back-to-back Class 5A state titles in 2021 and 2022, this series has actually been pretty even over the past six years with the Maroon Tide winning three out of five games although Picayune has won the past two including a 42-7 thumping of the Warriors in D’Iberville last season.
If not for the numerous heat timeouts, this one could be over in less than two hours as both teams will look to continue productive ground attacks which they have deployed the first two weeks of play.
Picayune tailback Darrell Smith, a Louisiana-Lafayette commit, had 23 carries for 230 yards with two touchdowns and had a 45-yard reception in the win over Northshore last week.

Meanwhile, Andre Crosby paced the winning ground game for D’Iberville last week against Gautier with 16 carries for 122 yards and one score, while Jayquan Havard also had 16 carries and ran for 97 yards.
In a season-opening win over Columbia, Havard rushed for 155 yards and one touchdown while Jaylen Jones ran for 90 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns and Crosby added a touchdown run as well plus he caught three passes for 96 yards with another score and returned a kick 97 yards for a third touchdown.
This marks the 28th all time meeting in this series that dates back to 1982, with Picayune up 16-11 all-time. This will be the 11th game between the two teams in the past 12 years, with the Covid season of 2020 as the lone exception.

Picayune head coach Cody Stogner is 2-1 vs. DHS, while third-year Warrior head coach Josh Ladner is still looking for his initial win over the Maroon Tide.
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