Purvis held on just long enough to beat Forrest County AHS 21-19 as Hayden Grice's 51-yard field goal fell short as time expired. The game was a defensive battle, and in the end, it was Purvis's defense that stepped up when needed.
"Anytime that Purvis and Forrest County get together, you can bet that it is going down to the final horn, and tonight was no different, "said Purvis head coach Brad Hankins.
After both teams traded three-and-outs to start the game, Purvis put together its first scoring drive. Quarterback Jojo Parker found his brother Jacob Parker for a 16-yard touchdown pass to cap off a seven-play drive that covered 67 yards. Jojo went 3 of 3 on the drive, throwing for 39 yards, and eventually finished the 10 of with 161 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The Aggies had a freshman quarterback and a backup center taking the snaps, but it did not stop their offense from moving the ball. Parks Brock led the Aggies down the field on a slow and methodical drive that lasted 15 plays and over eight minutes with a couple of penalties thrown in. Eventually, Brock found Alexander Csaszar in the back corner of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
"That's what we try to do is kind of hold onto the ball and keep it away," FCAHS coach Larry Dolan said. "We felt like we did that some, but we were down three starters on offense this week, and that kind of hurt us a bit trying to piece it together."
Even with the three offensive players sidelined due to injury, FCAHS took the lead late in the second quarter when Brock found running back Terrence Horne for a 25-yard touchdown pass that put the Aggies up 12-7 with just 26 seconds left in the half. Brock finished 9 of 16 with 113 yards and three touchdowns for the Aggies.
Horne proved to be vital to the Aggie offense all night as he led the team in rushing with 19 carries with 94 yards, along with a team-leading four receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.
"He's been one of our go-to guys," Dolan said. "I thought he caught the ball well and ran the ball well."
After the Horne touchdown, Purvis was not ready to take the ball into the locker room because, in just five plays, Parker found Nakaden Tatum on the final play in the half for a 32-yard touchdown pass to give the Tornadoes a 14-12 lead.
"We give him [Parker] the flexibility to read it back there and to do his thing, and he did tonight," Hankins said. "He's a pretty special player."
The third quarter was a defensive slugfest, with neither team giving up anything, with both teams forcing a turnover on downs and exchanging punts.
At the start of the fourth quarter, while Purvis was driving, Parker was intercepted by Jarrod Dyson near the Aggie 30-yard line and galloped down the sideline to the five-yard line before getting tackled.
But in what was the game's turning point, Horne fumbled on third down to give the ball right back to the Tornados.
"The defense played huge tonight," Hankins said. "They gave up a couple of big ones. Anytime you go up against Coach Dolan you know he's got some tricks up his sleeve. But for the most part, we played well, I was really proud of those guys."
On the ensuing drive, Purvis took firm control of the game on a running back Moses Cummings 85-yard touchdown run to put the Tornados up two possessions, 21-12, with less than four minutes to go. Although Cummings was having a pretty quiet night up to that point, the Tornados' best player stepped up and finished the game with 22 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown. He also added 40 yards receiving on one catch.
Cummings has now rushed for over 1,000 yards this season for the Tornados.
"It was just Mo being Mo," Hankins said about the 85-yard touchdown. "The guys up front did a great job of blocking it, and I thought once we got the edge sealed and I watched him turn it on, it was definitely pretty special,"
FCAHS scored with just over a minute left when Brock found Kanin Gill for a 14-yard touchdown to bring the score to 21-19.
The Aggies recovered the onside kick, moved the ball within field goal range, and were on the cusp of securing an improbable comeback, leading to Grice's failed 51-yard attempt that fell just short.
"It was a tough game. It was a tough game to lose," Dolan said. "Our road gets a lot tougher in the next few weeks….so we are going to try and regroup and bounce back."
Purvis improves to 4-2 overall and opens region play with a win, while FCAHS drops to 4-2 and 0-1 in the region.
"Really proud of our guys how we fought and battled through the adversity; it was special," Hankins said.
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