Last week wasn’t pretty for the Purvis Tornadoes, as they faced an overmatched Oak Grove team and lost 49-7. The offense couldn’t get much going all night while the defense was gashed for 411 yards.
Despite all that, Purvis coach Brad Hankins saw some positives that will help his team out in future games. That was apparent when Mason Kendrick connected with Jesse Johnson for a 75-yard touchdown pass and catch midway through the fourth quarter.
“I thought we played hard till the final horn,” Hankins said. “I saw some bright spots. With our young secondary guys, they came up and made some plays. It’s not necessarily what you want, but they kind of got after it back there. I thought our tailback, he got the heck knocked out of him and he kept playing.”
The defense and running back positions were questionable areas entering the game, too. Sophomore Wayne Ray did everything he could to solidify the tailback position, and two more sophomores led the defense in tackles.
Hankins was impressed with his young defensive players.
“Just how they flew around back there and moved around,” he said. “They did the things that they’ve been coached to do, and it was good to see. I think there are some positives we can build on with those young guys back there.”
This week, Purvis will hit the road again to play West Marion. The Trojans are coming off a 36-7 win over Presbyterian Christian and their defense didn’t allow a single point to the Bobcats.
Junior quarterback Jeremiah Holmes passed for 132 yards on 11-of-17 passing, and he added 48 yards on the ground, too. West Marion had three players with at least 10 carries, and four more players had rushing attempts, too, collecting 245 ground yards on 52 carries.
“West Marion is ultra athletic,” Hankins said. “That’s the thing about it. They have speed at every position. Their quarterback does a good job of running their offense and he gets it where it needs to be. They do a good job with the things they do, but that speed they have, the athletic ability they have on the field, is a big concerned, for sure.”
PCS’ only touchdown came when Holmes fumbled the ball at the goal line and a PCS player hopped on it, but the defense only allowed 44 total yards in the contest. The Trojans also forced two fumbles, sacked the two PCS quarterbacks four times and had seven tackles for a loss.
The West Marion defense dominated PCS, and the Tornadoes will have a tough task ahead of them.
“It’s a big challenge for us, just trying to get lined up against some of the formations and the things they do,” Hankins said. “We have to make sure we don’t get out-leveraged and things like that. We have a big week ahead of us, that’s for sure, trying to get it all figured out.”
