HATTIESBURG – On first-and-10 from Jackson Prep’s 16-yard line, PCS looked primed to score on the game’s opening possession to set the tone.
Quarterback Brandon Thornton, however, threw up in his helmet before the play, causing him to take off his helmet. The game’s officials forced him to sit out a play, and the Bobcats would fumble on the very next snap.
“Down to the 16-yard line, we had them in a good way right there,” PCS coach Joey Hawkins said. “… He took his helmet off and they made him come out of the game for one play. That’s just part of it.”
That was how Friday night went for the Bobcats, as Jackson Prep crushed PCS 41-9.
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“We’re just not good enough to beat a team like this right now,” Hawkins said. “If we continue to work and keep encouraging one another, we’ll have a chance down the stretch. “We were two plays away in the first half of staying right there with them. If we go down and score with first down on the 16, then we would have had a different ballgame.”
Jerrion Ealy
Jackson Prep’s all-around skill player did the most damage to PCS, a season after the Bobcats held him in check for two games. The state’s fifth-ranked prospect for the 2019 class by Rivals.com rushed for 228 yards and four touchdowns, caught three passes for 29 yards and ran back a kickoff return for a 97-yard score.
“Ealy, if he gets one step he’s gone,” Hawkins said. “He’s the most prolific player to play in this league.”
Prep would answer PCS’ fumble on its opening drive, but when the Patriots got the ball back, Ealy turned it on. On the second possession, he touched the ball on all eight plays, leading his team 70 yards to the end zone. His back-to-back runs of 21 yards each set up an easy 1-yard score to give Prep a 7-0 lead.
After PCS’ O’Neill Walters made a 36-yard field goal to cut the Prep lead to 7-3, Ealy took the kickoff 97 yards to push the lead to 14-3. He would add a 24-yard scamper at the end of the first half to pad the Prep lead to 21-3 by halftime.
He wasn’t done either. On Prep’s first play of the second half at midfield, Ealy took it up the right side for the score, making it back-to-back rushes that went for scores.
He finished his scoring onslaught two possessions later, taking Prep’s first play of the drive 58 yards to the end zone. That made the game 34-9 at the end of the third quarter.
“Ealy was just too much, and we knew mostly what they were doing,” Hawkins said. “We just couldn’t stop it.”
Penalties
Both teams had its fair share of penalties Friday night, as Jackson Prep racked up 10 for 98 yards and PCS had 12 for 98, as well. However, it seemed the penalties hurt PCS more than it did for Prep. The Bobcats even had one player ejected for two unsportsmanlike penalties.
“Just way too many mistakes,” Hawkins said. “We’re playing hard, we just have to play smarter. You can’t have personal fouls and jumping offsides.”
The first immediately detrimental penalty came midway through the second quarter when a Bobcat defensive lineman jumped offsides on a third-and-4 play for Prep. That gave the Patriots a first down and they would score three plays later to push the lead to 21-3.
On the Bobcats’ next drive, a couple of false starts in Prep’s territory prevented any chance of a late, first-half score to claw back into the contest. On PCS’ second drive of the second half, a personal foul then a false start derailed any momentum, and a roughing the passer on Prep’s next possession set up a Chance Lovertich touchdown pass to Landon Wilbanks to bring the game to its final, 41-9.
Next week
PCS (4-2) will host Oak Forrest next Friday for a 7 p.m. first kick.
“Hey, (Prep) whipped us,” Hawkins said. “We have to get better. We have homecoming next week, another big conference game, and we just have to keep fighting.
Jackson Prep 41,
PCS 9
Score by Quarter
Jackson Prep 7 14 13 7—41
PCS 0 3 6 0—9
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
JP—Ealy 1 run, (kick good), 3:33.
Second Quarter
P—Walters 36 field goal, 7:11.
JP—Ealy 97 kickoff return, (kick good) 6:55.
JP—Ealy 24 run, (kick good), 1:59.
Third Quarter
JP—Ealy 50 run, (kick good), 11:42.
P—James 4 run, (2-point no good), 2:16.
JP—Ealy 58 run, (2-point no good), 1:56.
Fourth Quarter
JP—Wilbanks 25 pass from Lovertich, (kick good), 10:56.
TEAM STATISTICS
JP PCS
First Downs 10 15
Rushes-Yards 32-324 47-226
Att-Comp-Int. 8-6-0 17-4-2
Passing Yards 51 110
Total Plays-Yards 40-375 64-336
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-2
Punts-Avg. 2-34 4-31.5
Penalties 10-98 12-98
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Prep: Ealy 17-228; Lovertich 4-36; Magee 2-20; Kellum 3-19; Peets 3-14; Young 2-6; Mills 1-4.
PCS: Thornton 15-84; James 15-63, TD; Rhian 8-36; Robinson 5-30; Keys 2-11; Sumrall 2-2.
Passing
Prep: Lovertich 6-of-8, 51 yds., TD.
PCS: Thornton 4-of-17, 110 yds., 2 INTs.
Receiving
Prep: Ealy 3-29; Wilbanks 1-13, TD; Maloney 1-6; Weeks 1-3.
PCS: Robinson 2-56; Keys 1-43; Slonaker 1-11.
