Pearl River Central paid for Poplarville’s success Friday.

Long Beach, coming off a close loss at the hands of the Hornets the week before, ruled the field and Controled the ball taking a 35-7 win over the visiting Blue Devils.

The big players for each team were Devil’s running back Ram Miller with 132 yards out of 28 attempts and Bearcats’ running back Ira Smith with 157 yards out of 21 attempts. However the lack of a strong defense held the Devils back from earning a win Friday night.

“We haven’t learned to play a full game, we’re young and it shows. We make a lot of mistakes that we can’t afford to make,” said PRC head coach Jeremy Weir, who attributed Friday’s lack of performance to the defense. “I’m a defensive guy and my defense is not playing very well.”

While possession of the ball did not weigh on either team’s favor, the Bearcats certainly made better use of their possession time, scoring five times before the Devils could score.

The beating began early, as Smith ran the Bearcats’ first touchdown, for 41 yards, in the first quarter with 5:52 on the clock and the extra point set the stage for a score board that seemed to favor the home team all night long, ending the quarter with a 7-0 score.

Each team committed several turnovers.

The second quarter was more disappointment for the Devils and more scoring for the Bearcats. Bearcats’ quarterback Jeremy Hill ran the ball in for the team’s second touchdown with 8:05 on the clock. The successful extra point attempt gave the Bearcat’s an ever increasing lead of 14-0.

The second score in the second quarter for the Bearcats was conducted by running back Santino Davis with 1:42 left to play. The score was now 21-0.

In the fourth quarter the Bearcats got another chance to show how physical they can be. A pass from Devils quarterback Blake Herrin intended for Heath Graham was instead intercepted by Bearcats linebacker Justin Saegert and ran in 37 yards for their fourth score. The score was now 28-0 after the extra point, the clock had 9:41 left and the Bearcats had a commanding lead. The game was all but over.

Once more would the Bearcats score before the Devils would score their first touchdown of the evening. The fifth and final score for the Bearcats came with 4:56 on the board, and was run 41 yards in by linebacker Clayton Skinner. The extra point gave the Bearcats their large lead of 35-0.

Devils running back Ram Miller was the driving force for the team that night, scoring the only touchdown with only 1:59 left on the clock. Miller’s score kept the Devils from suffering a shut out, giving them a score of 35-7 after the extra point. Miller’s contribution did not go unnoticed by Bearcats coaching staff as they offered pats on the shoulder and words of praise on the field after the game.

“We played a little bit more physical and bounced back from the loss last week,” Long Beach head coach Sean Hardensaid. “We’re still in a great situation to do all the things that we set out to do at the begging of the season.”

Long Beach plays at Picayune this week while PRC hosts St. Stanislaus.