CARRIERE — How sweet it is! Winning, that is!

 And Pearl River Central Blue Devils and their fans got a chance to see how good it feels when the Blue Devils defeated the Poplarville Hornets 28-7 in Hendrix stadium on Friday night, breaking a 13-game losing streak.

Before Friday night, the Blue Devils and their fans had to go back to Oct. 17, 2008, when the Blue Devils beat Long Beach 14-7 to remember how it felt to win.

That was the last time they had won a game until Friday night.

They went winless all last season, and dropped their first game of this season against the Hancock Hawks last week.

But this Friday night it belonged to the Blue Devils as their fans, sensing a win with a new coach, packed out the home stands.

And it was a tough loss for the Hornets and head coach Chris Teal, who dropped to 0-2 on the season as they face Lumberton next week. The Hornets hung with the Blue Devils, carrying a 7-7 tie into the half-time break, but the Blue Devils slowly but surely pulled away during the second-half, scoring three TDs.

Said first-year Blue Devil head coach Eric Collins, “These kids are the reason. They have worked very hard for this, and they deserve it.”

Added Collins, “I am euphoric. I am so happy for our kids. I thought our guys would feel the pressure carrying that no-win streak into tonight’s game, but they were determined, and they did what they had to do. I did not worry about the score; I told our kids if we played well, we would win. We got off to a slow first-half, but they remained determined in the second-half.”

“They put up a defense we had not seen, and we had to adjust to that. I have to hand it to the offensive line, tonight; they did an excellent job,” said Collins.

Blue Devil fans remained in the stands for a long time, and Blue Devils flooded the field jumping up and down, celebrating the end of the long winless drought. The players rushed over to the sidelines when the game ended and celebrated with the fans, too, and then rolled back onto the field for more celebration.

Said Blue Devil Trey Wynn, a 210-pound junior running back, who gained 181 yards rushing on 16 carriers (that’s 11.3 yards per carry) and scored two touchdowns, “It is awesome. It feels great.”

Wynn was not even playing for the team when the losing streak began, and it was his first winning game since being with the Blue Devils.

“I wasn’t even here at school when Pearl River won its last game. When we went into the half-time break, we talked it up; we knew we had to keep pushing. I think we got our momentum from then on. We carried the momentum back out in the second-half,” said Wynn.

It was a slow first-half with the Blue Devils drawing first blood, and then the Hornets came right back and evened up the score. It was 7-7 as the two teams retired to their locker rooms at the break.

The Blue Devil first score was set up when, on the Blue Devil 40, the Hornet snap flew over punter Colton Smith’s head. Blue Devil Adam Stockstill pounced on the ball on the Hornet 40. Stockstill had a recovery and an interception for the night. Eight plays later the Blue Devils scored their first TD on a 19-yard dash around right end by QB Dylan Spiers.

Blue Devil kicker Austin Creel’s kick for the PAT was good. With 2:10 left in the first quarter it was 7-0, PRC.

The Hornets roared right back on a 5-play drive, covering 65 yards. The Hornets took over on their own 35 on downs. QB Drake Hodges hit WR Lattimoore Pittman for 7; RB Tyrus Raine scampered 33 yards to the 25; Hodges’ pass to WR Dexter Childs fell incomplete; Raine plunged 5 to the 20; and then Hodges dropped back two yards and then shot through a hole in the middle for 20 yards and the TD. Ethan Pachal’s kick for the PAT was good, and the game was tied 7-7 with 10:01 remaining in the second quarter.

Just minutes before the end of the first-half, the Hornets drove down to the Blue Devil 15 and tried a 35-yard FG attempt by Pachal that missed.

In second-half action, the Blue Devils got the ball on the Hornet 26 because of a short punt, and on the first play Wynn picked up one of his two TDs by reversing field and sprinting 26 yards for the Devils second TD with 10:37 left in the third quarter. Creel’s PAT kick was good. It was 14-7, PRC.

The Devils’ third TD came with 3:18 left in the third period on a 5-play, 69-yard drive, capped by a 22-yard dash up the middle by Wynn for his second score of the third period. Again Creel’s kick was good and it was 21-7, Devils.

The Devils’ final score came on a 7-play, 58-yard drive with 11:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. Blue Devil Adam Stockstill, on his second grab of a Hornet ball, intercepted a Hodges’ pass on the Hornet 35 and returned it to the Hornet 42. On the 7th play of the series, the first play of the fourth quarter, tailback Desmond Michel raced around left end and dashed upfield for 36 yards and the last Devil TD.