The Pearl River Central Blue Devils suffered a loss to Hattiesburg’s Tigers, 63-33, Friday night.
While the Devils started out strong, scoring the first touchdown of the game, the rest of the game was mostly dominated by the Tigers.
That first touchdown occurred early in the first quarter, when Michael Tatman ran for about 50 yards, reaching the end zone with 10:20 left in that quarter. With the score at 7-0 Devils, it would be the only time PRC would be in the lead the rest of the night.
The Tigers scored on the next possession, when running back Drexlan Allen carried the ball 35 yards with 8:52 on the clock, tying the score 7-7.
A fumble on the Devils’ next possession gave the Tigers another opportunity to score. Five plays later quarterback Julian Conner completed a pass to wide receiver Jordan Murphy for a 30-yard touchdown play. With 4:30 on the clock in the first, the Tigers had the lead 14-7.
The final scoring play in that quarter occurred when running back Fabian Franklin carried the ball 26 yards with 3:32 left, digging a bigger lead at 21-7.
The rest of the first half was more of the same, with the Devils picking up some momentum. With 10:27 left in the first half, quarterback Wyatt Davis ran the ball from the 10 to bring the score to 21-13. But on the Tigers’ very next possession, Conner completed a pass to Murphy for a 45-yard scoring play that would widen the lead to 28-13.
On their next possession Conner would complete another pass, this time to Darius Ruffin for a touchdown, bringing the score to 34-13.
The last play of the half came down to the wire. With only three second left before halftime, Conner ran the ball for almost 40 yards, bringing the score to 42-13 with the successful two-point conversion.
After halftime, there was some energy out of the Devils. the defense kept the Tigers at bay, and the offense brought in another score when Davis carried the ball across the line, bringing the score to 49-19.
The Tigers scored again when Conner carried the ball on the very next play for about 50 yards. The score was 49-19, with 3:07 in the third.
Again, the Devils showed a spark on the subsequent possession, when two plays later Diante Lenior ran the ball, dropped the ball, picked it back up and carried it more than 70 yards to the end zone, adding another touchdown to the home side of the scoreboard. The score was 49-27 with the successful two point conversion.
And when the Tigers got the ball, a big play ensued, Raheem Willis ran the ball more than 50 yards, shrugging off multiple Devils defender attempts to tackle him, scoring with 2:17 in the third.
The teams would each score once more as the game wound to an end. With 6:36 left in the game Lenior carried the ball six yards for the Devils, and with only 40 second left to play Conner completed a pass to Murphy, making the final score 63-33.
“They’re just great on offense,” said Devils Head Coach Larry Dolan. “They averaged 40 something points a game all year.
They’re a great team we have to take our hats off to them. They’ll do well in the playoffs I think.”