By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

POPLARVILLE — Jay Beech called it pretty succinctly when what happened Friday night, “the unluckiest game I’ve ever been a part of.”

The Hornets had Picayune on the ropes in the third quarter, leading by two touchdowns, then bad luck descended on the Hornets, the momentum turned and the Maroon Tide rallied for a 28-21 victory Friday night in the clash of Pearl River County heavyweights.

Picayune improved to 4-1 overall, while Poplarville dropped to 3-2 heading into Region 7-4A play.

Despite the win, Maroon Tide coach Cody Stogner said his team still has plenty of improving to do before they get into Region 4-6A competition in two weeks.

“We’re happy to get the win, but we’ve got to play a lot better,” said Stogner. “We’ve got a lot of things we have to work on before we start our district.

“We always talk about being 1-0 that week, and we need to have the mentality that we’re 0-0 when our heads hit the pillow tonight. The games are going to start mattering now, and we’ve got to clean up our mistakes.”

Although Beech tactfully called his team unlucky, the rest of the Hornet Nation thought their team got robbed after an apparent tying touchdown in the fourth quarter was ruled a touchback after a fumble was called in the end zone.

“We only punted once and put up 21, but it wasn’t enough,” said Beech. “We got after them in the first half, and I thought we did a good job in the second half. But when you give up three turnovers, it’s tough.

“It’s going to be hard coming back from this, because this one sucks.”

And that was the second time in the second half that Poplarville was denied a touchdown on a lost fumble at the goal line. And another third-quarter fumble set up a Maroon Tide score that got them back in the game.

Picayune won despite another vintage performance from Hornet junior standout Tylan Keys, who ran the ball 23 times for 269 yards and all three of Poplarville’s touchdowns.

“He’s an animal,” said Stogner. “He’s the best football player in the state, no question in my mind. He’s the real deal.”

Keys’ first carry, on the first play from scrimmage after the opening kickoff, went for 74 yards and a touchdown before the capacity crowd at The Hornet’s Nest had barely settled into their seats.

“My o-line blocked it perfectly, and I just flowed their lead all the way,” said Keys. “Took it to the house.”

Picayune had the ball for more than six minutes on the ensuing possession but were stopped two yards short on a fourth-and-4 from the Hornet 35 yard-line.

Poplarville went right back to work after the stop, driving 71 yards on eight plays, overcoming a 19-yard loss on the first play of the drive after a bad snap over the head of sophomore quarterback Trac Smith.

Keys got the Hornets out of trouble on third-and-25 with a 55-yard scamper around right end, and he got the touchdown on a 1-yard run to put Poplarville up 14-0.

“Our offensive line is our strength, but we got whooped in the first half,” said Stogner. “It was no secret about it; we got whooped on both sides of the ball, both lines. So give the credit to Poplarville. I’m just proud of how our guys responded in the second half.”

Picayune got going on the next possession, driving 66 yards on eight plays, despite putting the ball on the ground twice in the drive, including a 3-yard scoring run by senior quarterback Colt Robertson, who picked up an errant snap and dashed around right end for the touchdown.

Although the Maroon Tide started slowly, they finished with 313 yards of offense, including 267 on the ground.

“We’ve got to be really physical to be a running team like we are,” said senior guard Mitchell Smith. “It takes a lot out of you. We’ve got to be explosive, make sure we stay disciplined, keep our hands inside and move our feet.”

Poplarville regained its two-score lead when it got the ball back, using 12 plays and 6:21 off the clock in an 80-yard scoring drive.

Keys converted a third down with a 34-yard run to get the Hornets out of their end of the field, Smith converted a fourth down inside the Tide 10, and Keys scored from 7 yards out, scoring for the third time out of the wildcat formation.

“That’s one of our favorite formations,” said Keys. “We’ve got a lot of stuff we can pull out of the hat when we need it.”

Poplarville felt pretty good at halftime, leading 21-7, and felt even better with the Hornets opened the second half with a three-and-out.

The Hornets picked right up where they left off, picking up four first downs on their way to a first down at the Picayune 11. But Smith was stripped of the ball just short of the end zone, and the fumble was recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

It didn’t the Tide long to take advantage of their good fortune. After senior tailback Xavier Dennis picked up a first down at the 30 yard-line, senior Jordan Hathorne burst off left tackle, pulled away from a would-be tackler and raced all the way for a 70-yard scoring play.

“We talked at halftime about which team had more fight,” said Dennis. “It was a matter of who wanted it more. We just grinded it out. We had more grit tonight than they did.”

Still, Poplarville had another good drive going when Keys lost the handle after a 14-yard pickup to the Picayune 44.

Once again, the Maroon Tide cashed it in, covering the 56 yards in eight plays, with senior A’Darrius Fortenberry getting the tying touchdown on a 19-yard run. Hathorne converted a fourth down near midfield, and Dennis had a 20-yard pickup to get Picayune in scoring position.

“This is everything we’ve worked for,” said Dennis, who finished with 128 yards on 20 carries. “I give all the glory to my offensive line. They worked hard all summer getting to this point. This is all hard work, nothing else.”

With momentum now clearly on Picayune’s side, the Maroon Tide took Poplarville’s only punt of the night for the go-ahead scoring drive, converting a pair of third downs, including the score on a 35-yard strike from Robertson to Fortenberry.

“At halftime, we had to look at the (defensive) fronts they were using,” said Smith. “We needed to make our adjustments, communicate and just play ball.”

Keys dashed 30 yards on the first play after the kickoff, and four plays later, the Hornets were knocking on the door with a third-and-1 from the Tide 13. Smith took a quarterback draw up the middle and appeared to score.

But the side judge saw it differently, ruling the ball was out of Smith’s hands before he got in the end zone. The ball went over on the touchback, and Picayune was able to run out the remaining 2:44 off the game clock.

Poplarville will have to flush it quickly, because the Hornets have a tough assignment next week, opening region play at McComb.

“We’re going to put this behind us,” said Keys. “They’re going to go to sleep tonight knowing they had that game handed to them. We’re just going to work hard based off this game.”

Picayune has an open date next week, then the Maroon Tide open their region schedule October 10 at Pascagoula.