By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – For the second year in a row, Dante Dowdell and Picayune made West Point pay in the Class 5A state championship game in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Gridiron Classic.
Dowdell powered the Maroon Tide to their second straight 5A title with a big second half in a 31-21 triumph Friday night at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi.
Picayune completed a 15-0 season with its fifth state title, and its fourth in the past 12 seasons. West Point (11-3) was denied a 12th state championship, losing in the 5A finals for the third straight season.
Dowdell, who has committed to Oregon, led Picayune with 194 yards on 28 carries, and junior Chris Davis added 104 yards on 16 carries as the Maroon Tide gobbled up 358 yards rushing.
The Maroon Tide had to come from behind in the second half to get past the Green Wave, although they had a brief lead after taking the opening possession of the game as far as the West Point 11-yard-line before the drive stalled.
Morgan Craft’s 27-yard field goal gave Picayune a 3-0 lead that didn’t last long. The Green Wave took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards on just five plays for a go-ahead score.
Senior Keshawn Henley got the drive going with a 37-yard game, then on third down, junior quarterback Quinterion Tillman-Evans connected with senior Ahmari Cox for a 41-yard touchdown pass.
The Green Wave padded their lead after turning Picayune away on a fourth-down stop at the West Point 22. After a block in the back penalty set them back 8 yards, Tillman-Evans and Cox hooked up again for an 86-yard scoring pass for a 14-3 lead.
Picayune finally found the end zone on its next possession. Sophomore Darrell Smith’s 28-yard kickoff return gave the Maroon Tide good field position at their own 48, and needed 10 plays to score, with Dowdell getting his first touchdown of the night on a 1-yard run.
The Picayune defense began to step forward in the second half, getting a three-and-out, then turned it back over to the offense.
The Tide needed just four plays to take the lead for good, with Dowdell prancing 22 yards for a touchdown. Davis ran the PAT to give Picayune a 17-14 lead.
After stopping West Point again, the Maroon Tide scored again, as Smith took a swing pass around the left side, broke several tackles along the sideline and dashed all the way for an 80-yard scoring play. Craft’s kick made it 24-14 late in the third period.
Cox gave the Green Wave good starting position with a 35-yard kickoff return, and West Point cashed it in on an 8-yard touchdown run by junior Kahnan Daniels on the first play of the fourth quarter.
But there was no stopping Dowdell on this night. The Picayune senior capped his stellar career with a 37-yard touchdown run, capping an eight-play, 64-yard drive.
West Point’s bid to answer was snuffed out when senior Damarius Magee forced and recovered a fumble at the Green Wave 40. Picayune was then able to run off the last 5:35 off the clock to secure its victory.
GAME SUMMARY
Class 5A State Championship
Friday at Hattiesburg
Picayune 31, West Point 21
Picayune 3 6 15 7 – 31
West Point 7 7 0 7 – 21
First Quarter
P – Morgan Craft 27 field goal, 6:10 (11 plays/56 yards/5:50 possession).
WP – Quinterion Tillman-Evans 41 pass to Ahmari Cox (Corbin Hendricks kick), 3:59 (5/80/2:11).
Second Quarter
WP – Tillman-Evans 86 pass to Cox (Hendricks kick), 9:00 (2/78/0:20).
P – Dante Dowdell 1 run (Kick failed), 3:20 (10/54/5:40).
Third Quarter
P – Dowdell 22 run (Chris Davis run), 8:20 (4/57/1:48).
P – Brady Robertson 80 pass to Darrell Smith (Craft kick), 1:15 (4/80/1:43).
Fourth Quarter
WP – Kahnen Daniels 8 run (Hendricks kick), 11:54 (5/46/1:21).
P – Dowdell 37 run (Craft kick), 6:53 (8/64/5:01).
TEAM STATISTICS
P WP
First downs 24 9
Total net yards 459 270
Rushes-yards 58-358 26-116
Passing yards 101 154
Comp-Att-Int 2-6-0 4-8-0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 8-80 7-65
Punts-total (avg.) 1-36 (36.0) 3-127 (42.3)
Sacks 1-1 0-0
Third down 6-10 3-7
Fourth down 0-1 1-1
Time of possession 33:33 14:27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Picayune– Dante Dowdell 28-190, Chris Davis 16-104, Darnell Smith 7-37, Dareell Smith 4-30, Brady Robertson 1-(-1), Team 2-(-2); West Point – Kahnen Daniels 15-57, Keshawn Henley 6-50, Quinterion Tillman-Evans 4-7, Ahmani Cox 1-2.
Passing
Picayune– Brady Robertson 2-6-0-101; West Point – Quinterion Tillman-Evans 3-5-0-139, Kahnen Daniels 1-2-0-15, Ahmani Cox 0-1-0-0.
Receiving
Picayune – Darrell Smith 1-80, Tyran Warren 1-21; West Point – Ahmani Cox 3-142, Jalon Copperwood 1-12.
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
