Pearl River Central receiver Willie Reece had a field day against Forrest County Agricultural Friday night with three touchdown grabs and nearly 90 yards. Unfortunately, because of two failed extra points and a failed two-point conversion, the Blue Devils lost its first home game 21-18.
“Missing the extra point early was huge. With the weather we’ve had lately, it’s impacted our special teams training the most. But we have got to get over the excuses and just make plays down the stretch,” PRC Head Coach Larry Dolan said.
The Blue Devils defense played well overall, starting the night forcing two turnovers on downs against FCAHS.
The energy inside PRC’s stadium was stagnate in the first half, but when PRC had the chance to stop the Aggies’ offense on a fourth and seven on their own seven yard line with 2:11 left in the game, the Blue Devils slipped. Running back Shane Smith would then scamper to the end zone, giving the Aggies a 21-12 lead.
“We shot ourselves in the foot. But hopefully these are things we can fix in the future,” Dolan said.
PRC’s Tristan Anderson looked poised in his first game as a quarterback on his home turf, connecting with receiver Reece early in the second quarter on a 25-yard lob.
“Dropping that ball last Friday really upset me, so I was determined to have a good game today,” Reece said. “We’ve been working hard, nobody sees it but us. We’ll be back.”
After the Blue Devils’ defense forced a three-and-out, Anderson found Reece open as he ran down the sideline for a 38-yard touchdown with 48 seconds to go in the first half and giving them their first lead of the season at 12-7.
However, that lead was short-lived. On the ensuing play, Aggies’ Smith ran 49 yards to put FCAHS back up 14-12.
Pearl River Central (0-3) has an extra week off to focus on its next game Sept. 15 against St. Stanislaus.
“We are going to use this week to get better, plain and simple,” Reece said. “It’s the perfect time for us to regroup and get better as a team.”