Chris Marquette

Picayune Item

Despite the Poplarville Hornets amassing 425 total yards to Forrest County’s 221, the Hornets fell to the Aggies 35-22. The Friday loss at Forrest County drops Poplarville to 4-3 while the Aggies improved to 2-5.

In a telephone interview Monday Poplarville Head Coach Jay Beech explained that it’s hard to win when your team has five turnovers and a safety in the end zone due to a botched snap.  They had four fumbles and one interception. Beech also noted that inexperience was a factor in a pressure-filled game when he said four of five turnovers were committed by sophomores or freshmen.

Junior running back Jesse Pernell led the Hornets on the ground with 20 carries for 198 yards and one score. Sophomore running back Austin Bolton complimented Pernell’s performance with 164 yards rushing on 16 carries and a touchdown. 

Even with a strong ground game, the turnovers and mistakes were just too much to overcome. 

“We were winning 15-8 in the middle of 3rd then they scored and then we fumbled inside the 30 three straight possessions and they scored on each of those turnovers,“ Beech said.

Beech was impressed with the defensive effort his guys gave. Senior linebacker Tyler Frick had a monster game with 12 total tackles and two for a loss.

“We played hard defensively, our defense was put in some really bad situations and played with intensity,” Beech said. “After the game I told them we can still reach our goal of a district championship if we win out. This was very disappointing.”