SEMINARY – On Friday night in Seminary, the Purvis Tornadoes showed some bright spots on both sides of the ball. But, they also had some mistakes.
In the end, the Seminary Bulldogs were too much for the Tornadoes, beating them 42-21 to drop Purvis to 1-4 on the season.
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The Bulldogs gashed the Purvis defense in tune of 346 rushing yards on 50 carries, but it was two long pass plays in the first half that created the separation on the scoreboard. A 33-yard pass play to Mississippi State defensive lineman commit, Nathan Pickering, gave Seminary a 14-7 lead, then a 42-yarder with less than a minute to go until halftime pushed the home team ahead 20-7.
“We just kind of lost our guys,” Purvis coach Brad Hankins said of the pass plays. “They’re running motion and doing some things, and we kind of lost our guys. We didn’t put our eyes where they were supposed to be, but those guys are going to get better. It’s learning for them, and we’re going to get better back there.”
The game started relatively square. Seminary moved the ball down the field quickly to jump ahead 7-0 on the game’s first possession, then Purvis answered with a quick drive of its own. It took the Bulldogs less than three minutes to travel 65 yards on all run plays, and Purvis tied the game at 7 with a mix of run and pass.
A 31-yard pass-and-catch from senior Mason Kendrick to junior Jesse Johnson helped set up a 4-yard score from senior Brian Bennett.
After that, Purvis’ offense only gained one first down for the rest of the half, but the Tornadoes’ defense hung tough against Seminary’s wing-T, run-heavy offense. Seminary’s passing game, though, was effective.
Pickering’s touchdown reception, a simple go-route, came on fourth-and-13 from the Purvis 33-yard line. The Seminary drive began after Purvis attempted a fake punt near midfield. Two drives later, the Tornadoes went for it again on fourth down with a minute until the break, and they were unsuccessful. A Marquis Crosby 44-yard touchdown over the middle happened two plays later.
The Bulldogs found their groove again running the ball in the second half. Of the team’s 346 rushing yards, 206 came in the final two quarters, as they began to wear down the Purvis defense.
“(Seminary) coach (Brian) Ryals and them do such a good job of running the wing-T over there, and they have a good football team,” Hankins said. “It kind of wore on us in the second half, and we’re definitely going to be sore tomorrow.”
On Seminary’s first offensive play of the second half, after recording a blocked punt for a safety, Eddie Barnes took it to the house from 40 yards out to push the lead to 29-7. Purvis showed signs of life on the next drive, as Bennett added a 28-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 29-14. Then a recovery on an onside kick put Purvis in position to slash the lead down even more.
The Tornadoes would punt, and the Bulldogs used an 11-play drive that traveled 73 yards to take a 35-14 advantage. Again, Purvis answered. Sophomore running back Wayne Ray found paydirt from the 5-yard line to make it 35-21 early in the fourth to put his team back in the game.
“I thought we moved the ball well in the second half,” Hankins said. “The first half, we missed some assignments with them slanting and stunting. We kind of got it fixed and were able to move the ball a little bit.”
But, another long drive by Seminary resulted in a Crosby 2-yard touchdown to bring the game to its final score.
Now, Purvis turns its attention to the Battle of Highway 589 Friday. Sumrall is 6-0 for the first time since 1988, and the Tornadoes haven’t lost the rival game since 2007.
“What a test,” Hankins said. “Everybody is going to say it’s a rivalry game, but it’s the next game. We just have to get ready to go and try to slow (Sumrall senior quarterback) Dannis Jackson down. That bunch is rolling.”
