Picayune 9th Grade Football Team Remains Undefeated

Tuesday night, Picayune’s 9th grade football team aimed to go undefeated for three full seasons. That’s 24 wins in a row. The Maroon Tide played the D’Iberville Warriors in the Gulf Coast Championship.

When you walk the streets of downtown Picayune, you get the sense it’s just another small town, but ask any of the locals, and they’ll tell you what this small town is all about. One Picayune fan says, “Picayune is a football town. You know, football is number one here.”

Tuesday night, Picayune’s 9th grade football team set out to defend a three year winning streak, and even though it wasn’t the varsity squad on the field, the community went all out. Terry King, a fan, says, “Normally, we wouldn’t be having this lovely music in the background, we wouldn’t be having a commentator, we wouldn’t have the band or the dance team, it would just be our cheerleaders and the football team, but tonight, since this is so special, this is the championship, the school brought everybody out.”

John Cockrell, Head Coach for Picayune, says, “At Picayune, we all try to be team players and support each other and each organization and what they do, and that’s why all these other organizations are out here supporting the 9th graders on the field right now.”

And the parents couldn’t be prouder of their kids. One proud father says, “Number 45, his name is T.J. Robinson.” Another father says, “My boy’s in the band. I know us being in the championship game, they wanted them out here to kind of help pep them up, and tonight, they’re pepped up.”

In the end, the team pulled off a solid victory over their worthy opponents and the team has yet another championship under its belt, but for many of the fans, it’s not winning that matters, it’s community.

King closes, “It’s the fact that these young men have brought us all together for just a football game and everybody loves what they’re doing."