By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PICAYUNE — After winning back-to-back Class 5A state championships in 2021 and 2022 and falling in the Class 6A South State title tilt each of the past two seasons, Picayune head coach Cody Stogner and his Maroon Tide have their sights set squarely upon next season already.
Picayune dropped a thrilling 39-35 decision to visiting Hattiesburg Friday night at Lee-Triplett Stadium to suddenly end the campaign with a 11-3 overall record.

“Looking back, it flew by,” Stogner, who just completed his fifth season at the helm of his alma mater said. “Our kids gave great effort for 14 weeks. We were in a dog fight every week and they never flinched. A lot of people doubted this group because of what we lost (from 2023), but I believe they made it known that they were not the group after the group.”

Hattiesburg senior standout quarterback Deuce Vance, the Class 6A “Mr. Football” in the state this season, went 12-of-25 passing for 266 yards with three touchdowns, had nine carries for 38 yards with two touchdowns and also had a 13-yard touchdown catch in the win for the Tigers. His favorite target, wide out Tristan Keys, had eight receptions for 211 yards with two touchdowns as well.

The Maroon Tide will lose several senior standouts from the current group, including stalwart running back Darrell Smith who ran for over 2,250 yards and accounted for 28 touchdowns his senior season.
Stogner has already completed his schedule for next season, when the Maroon Tide will compete in Region 4-6A for the third straight season since the expansion to seven classifications in the state two years ago.
The one change is that long-time Maroon Tide arch-rival and neighbor Pear River Central is back in the same league with Picayune and will replace George County in the loop for the next two seasons. The Pearl River County duo will join holdovers Pascagoula, Hancock, Long Beach and West Harrison to form the newly revamped region.

The first five opponents next season for Picayune will be Gulfport, Slidell and Northshore all on the road and Ocean Springs and Biloxi at home. But not in that particular order.
Unlike the past few season, Picayune will have an open date in week six of the season before beginning the region race after the break.
“The schedule for next season doesn’t get any easier.,” Stogner concluded. “We add two teams who are playing for their respective state titles this weekend plus, a south state appearance team, and other playoff teams as well. We got to work today because we know we have a long way to go to try and get back to this point to give ourselves a shot.”