Strong running and good first half defense by the Forrest County Aggies in their 42-21 win built up too good a lead for the Poplarville Hornets to overcome.

Still, the 42-0 halftime score didn’t prevent the Hornets from showing promise as they tallied three scores and held the Aggies out of the endzone in the second half.

“There’s nothing that we did the second half that we couldn’t have done the first half,” Poplarville first year head coach Chris Teal said, in post-game comments on the team’s effort. “We’ve come a long way. These kids have done everything that I’ve asked them to do off the field and it’s going to transition on the field.”

It’s been a tough week for all the teams, he said, referring to the disruptions from the weather but in the end that’s just an excuse.

“We’ve got to believe in what we’re doing, believe that we can do it and I think that everything will be fine” as the season progresses.

Forrest County’s first score came at 6:20 in the first quarter on a fourth down halfback pass from the five by Aggie workhorse Bo Bo Morgan to Kyle Kirk. Morgan added the point after for a 7-0 tally.

After a four and out on the first Hornet possession the Aggies quickly struck again at the 3:24 mark on the third play from scrimmage. Isiah Jackson took the hand-off on the Hornet 49 and ran around the right side to the endzone. Morgan’s second PAT attempt was good to up the ante to 14.

Poplarville shook off those two scores to rack up a first down but the Forrest County defense stalled the budding drive and the Hornets were again forced to punt. With seconds left in the first quarter the Aggies third score came when Bo Bo Morgan found the endzone from his own 41 as the quarter ended. He then kicked the PAT for the 21-0 score.

The Hornets managed another first down before giving the ball back on another four and out. The Aggies cranked up again at 6:55 in the second stanza with a 42-yard pass play from Riley Brown to Morgan for the fourth Forrest County score. Morgan added another point after.

Forrest County got the ball after the Hornets were unable to move the yardsticks and Riley Brown found Kirk through the air for 57 yards and the fifth Aggies score. Morgan added the point after to up the score to 34-0 with 4:44 on the clock.

The final Aggies tally came with 2:16 showing in the half when Jackson made a scrambling 60-yard run. Morgan’s final PAT ended the first half scoring at 42-0.

The third quarter showed that the Hornets were not about to give up without a fight. Poplarville strung together four first downs and got the ball to the Aggie four before stalling out. Quarterback Dakota Sheppard completed two passes to Dexter Childs for 24 yards in the drive.

Mixing up the run among Adam Thomas, Stanley Hart, Nick Peters, and Tyler Holston allowed the Hornet drive to grind out positive yardage before the Aggies held on fourth down at the four.

After a first down the Hornets held Forrest County at the Aggie 30 on fourth down following a measurement. On the first play after getting the ball the Hornet’s Thomas weaved through Forrest County defenders to the goal line and the first Hornet score of the game and the young season. Shelby Purvis kicked the point after at the 1:45 third quarter mark.

The Aggies again were held and Poplarville got the ball on their own 40. Four first downs later Sheppard handed the ball to Gabriel Rhodes at the one for the second Poplarville score with 5:13 left to play. Purvis’ PAT again was good.

The Hornets held the Aggies again and with less than two minutes remaining got three first downs down to the Aggie 10 on two strong running plays by Holston and Ben Fayard. Ira White then found the left side for the six pointer as time ran out. Purvis added the PAT to end the game scoring at 42-21.

There were two minor injuries to Akeem Henry and Stanley Hart that Teal says will bear watching but thinks they will be in shape for next week. Poplarville is home again Friday against Stone County at 7:30 p.m.