Pearl River Central made a valiant effort to overcome a 14-7 deficit against Bay High in the waning moments of Friday’s homecoming game, but the Blue Devil’s fell just short as the game ended when a brawl broke out after the Blue Devils failed to convert facing a fourth and ten near midfield.

The brawl was contained in less than two minutes. The coaches and officiating staff met at midfield, deciding to call the game with 27 seconds remaining in the game.

“I would like to apologize to the fans because that is not a true representation of what we do,” said Blue Devils coach Jeremy Weir. “Normally, if it’s a really heated game, we’d call a time out to settle our kids down, but there was nothing leading up to it. It happened so fast. We were right on top of it.”

Several fans also spilled onto the field during the incident.

According to a spokesman from the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department on Saturday, no charges had been filed in the incident.

The brawl marred an otherwise competitive game.

“It was a very good football game,” coach Weir added. “Our quarterback got hurt early in the first quarter and we weren’t able to throw the ball like we wanted. That handicapped us.”

With 42 seconds remaining in the game and facing a second and ten, PRC executed a double reverse pitch back to Cody Dillard, who launched a spiral down field near the 25 yardline, but the receiver was unable to secure the pass which would have given the Blue Devils excellent field position deep in Tigers’ territory.  

“That was one of those unfortunate things,” said Weir. “It was one of those perfect plays. It happens. Those guys on Sundays drop passes.”

The Blue Devils made two more “hail Mary” attempts, but neither was as close as the second down pass.  

Pearl River Central took the early lead following a Dillard interception of a Tigers pass on the first play from scrimmage.  Lance Powers carried on a sweep right for the night’s opening score.

The Tigers got both of their scores in the second quarter as Josh Hawkins converted on touchdown runs of eleven and sixteen yards.

Defensively, Travis Landry led the Blue Devils with seven tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

“He pretty much took over our defense in the second half,” Weir explained. “He had several tackles behind the line of scrimmage and a couple of sacks. He had the best defensive game of any player this year.”

The Blue Devils have now lost 14 straight games including nine straight in Region 8-4A play. PRC stands 0-6 on the year overall and drops to 0-3 in the league.

Bay High meanwhile, kept its playoff hopes alive and set up a possible big match-up with Poplarville in two weeks.

Pearl River Central travels to play on the road next week as they travel to Poplarville.