The PCS Bobcats learned a lot about life Friday night at home. According to coach Joey Hawkins, football is a lot like life.
“Everything is not going to keep going your way,” he said. “You’ve got to keep grinding.”
Hawkins and his squad never gave up against the Jackson Academy Raiders, the No. 3-ranked private school team in the state. However, the Bobcats couldn’t get the offensive punch it needed and fell to the visiting team from the Capital City 17-10.
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The loss dropped PCS two 5-4 on the season and 1-4 in the District 1-AAAA standings. Jackson Academy improved to 7-1, 2-1.
For PCS, the defense stood out, Hawkins said. The Bobcats scored its only touchdown on defense, when Jake Sumrall scooped a bobbled snap to the JA punter and raced 26 yards in the third quarter to give PCS its only lead in the game 10-7.
“We won’t give up; that’s just who we are,” he said. “We did a lot of good things. We had a lot of stops and kept them out of the end zone so many times. But we just couldn’t manufacture enough yards offensively.”
PCS managed only 221 total yards on offense with only 37 in the passing game. Jackson Academy’s defense had a lot to do with the Bobcats’ low numbers on offense, Hawkins said.
“They played us good,” he said. “They tackled a little better than us tonight. All of these games have come down to two or three plays. It’s every week and we know it.”
Big plays by the Jackson Academy offense were the saving points for the visitors. A 66-yard scoring pass from quarterback Kinkead Dent to Walker Benner in the first quarter put the Raiders on top from the beginning. Then with less than two minutes to play, Toryn Steed broke open a 46-yard scoring run on a pitchout around left end for the second JA touchdown.
Each team’s placekicker accounted for a field goal on the night. For the Raiders, Land Gebhart hit a 30-yard field goal with 0:06 on the clock in the third quarter, while PCS got three points in the first quarter when O’Neill Walters connected on a 46-yard boot.
For PCS, Taylor Bailey made two key defensive plays that stopped Jackson Academy drives. In the third quarter, he picked off an errant Raider pass to shut down the JA drive at the Bobcats’ 11-yard line. Then in the fourth quarter, Bailey jumped on a Jackson Academy fumble after a 37-yard pass would have put the Raiders less than 10 yards from pay dirt.
Overall, Hawkins praised the effort by his players against a tough team.
“We’re proud of them,” he said. “We know something good is going to happen. We’ve got to just keep getting after it.”
Jackson Academy 17,
PCS 10
Score by Quarter
Jackson Academy 7 0 3 7—17
PCS 3 0 7 0—10
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
JA—Benner 66 pass from Dent, (kick good) 5:30.
PCS—Walters 46 field goal, 0:48.
Third Quarter
PCS—Sumrall 26 fumble return (kick good) 8:56.
JA—Gebhart 20 field goal, 0:06.
Fourth Quarter
JA—Steed 46 run (kick good) 1:38.
TEAM STATISTICS
JA PCS
First Downs 13 12
Rushes-Yards 14-147 40-184
Att-Comp-Int. 30-14-1 19-7-1
Passing Yards 263 37
Total Plays-Yards 44-410 59-221
Punts-Avg. 3-29.9 7-39.9
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties 7-51 7-43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Jackson Academy: Steed 11-105 TD, Dent 2-34, Benner 1-8, Mason 1-6, Morgan 6-(-7).
PCS: James 19-100, Thornton 12-50, Keys 6-23, Rhian 2-8, Sumrall 1-3.
Passing
Jackson Academy: Morgan 8-of-16, 148 yds., 1 INT. Dent 6-of-14, 115 yds, TD.
PCS: Thornton 7-of-19, 37 yds., 1 INT.
Receiving
Jackson Academy: Stevens 5-89, Benner 1-66, TD; Mason 4-49, Fracchia 2-40, Steed 1-7.
PCS: Holford 1-14, Keys 2-9, Slonaker 1-9, Sumrall 2-4, Rhian 1-1.
