Bears lose heartbreaker to Pearl River

Southwest's Renard Williams battles Pearl River's Jeffery Dyson

The Southwest Bears were oh so close to picking up their first win of the season Thursday night with under 1:00 to go. But, it was not to be as Jorrell Thurman’s second interception of the night stopped the Bears’ drive at the Pearl River five-yard line to preserve the Wildcats 32-27 victory.

The loss dropped the Bears to 0-4 on the season and 0-2 in the MACJC’s South Division. Pearl River evened its record at 2-2 and1-1 in the Division.

After the teams exchanged punts, Pearl River scored the only points of the first quarter on its second possession. Dylan Favre completed a 12 play, 79-drive when he connected with Darius Holder on a nine-yard scoring pass with 0:15 left on the clock. Brandon King booted the PAT for a 7-0 Wildcats lead.

Southwest wasted little time in tying the game on their ensuing possession. Taking the ball at their own 22, the Bears marched the remaining 78 yards on seven plays with Laderick Turner scoring on a one-yard dash into the end zone. Paul Johnson’s extra point kick knotted the game at 7-7 with 12:02 left in the half.

An errant punt on the next Pearl River possession gave the Bears the ball on their opponent’s 36-yard line with 7:42 to play. Needing only 0:55 to take advantage of the opportunity, Southwest used four plays and took the lead when Turner Easterbrook hit Jerome Stewart for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Johnson’s PAT put the Bears on top 14-7 with 6:47 to play before the break.

Pearl River drew to within one point on their next possession. Taking the ball at their own 25, the Wildcats methodically moved the ball down the field in 16 plays, Holder capped the march with a 13-yard scoring strike to Shawn Jones with 1:11 on the clock. A blocked extra point attempt allowed the home team to go into the locker room with a 14-13 lead.

Pearl River took the second half kickoff and quickly regained the lead. Starting the drive on their own 39, the Wildcats reached paydirt in only six plays with Holder completing a 50-yard touchdown pass to Markeyus Johnson with 13:32 to play in the quarter. A two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the visitors with a 19-14 lead.

The Wildcats then stretched their lead to 25-14 when Thurman picked off an Easterbrook pass and raced 100 yards to the end zone with 12:31 on the clock. Another attempt at a two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Another Pearl River touchdown, with 7:00 to play in the third, seemed to put the game out of reach. Holder’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Johnson and King’s extra point kick gave the Wildcats a 32-14 lead.

Southwest began its comeback attempt, and closed out the third quarter scoring, on their next possession. With Easterbrook completing five of six passes, the Bears moved 75 yards on six plays. Cedric McCullum’s catch of an Easterbrook 22-yard touchdown pass and Johnson’s PAT put the score at 32-21 with 15:00 left to play.

The Bears scored the only points of the final quarter, and pulled to within five points, with 4:44 left when Easterbrook again connected with McCullum. The result this time was a seven-yard touchdown pass. Johnson’s PAT left a 32-27 score.

Southwest had one final shot to complete the comeback when they forced a Wildcats punt late in the game. Taking the ball at their own 19, the Bears moved to the Pearl River 19 before Thurman stepped in front of Easterbrook’s pass with 0:31 left in the game to secure the win.

“All I asked our kids was to do their best,” said Southwest head coach Charles Anthony, “and leave everything on the grass and they did that. Our kids stepped up (and) made several big plays on both sides of the ball. I thought (offensive coordinator) Coach (Jason) Phillips had a great (game) plan. Now, it’s definitely a game I feel like we should have won. But, it boils down to we made more mistakes than they did.”

“We gave up an interception return for a touchdown and threw one at the end of the game,” Anthony continued. “But, we did get an interception and got the ball on a bad snap (on a punt). They executed a fake punt on fourth and five, we tried one and didn’t execute it. We went for it (on a fourth and goal, unsuccessfully) knowing we needed two scores to win.”

“Regardless of anything else,” Anthony went on, “people should be proud of our kids because they played to the end. There was no quit in them and if they continue to do that, good things are going to happen to them.”

The Bears picked up 451 yards of total offense. Easterbrook led the way by completing 31 of 59 passes for 407 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted three times. Korey Jones led the Bears’ receiving corps with 10 catches for 192 yards. Renard Williams had eight catches for 59 yards. Stewart caught seven passes for 82 yards and a touchdown while McCullum had four catches for 52 yards and two scores. Chris Cooley caught two passes. Turner led the Bears’ running game with 44 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

The Bears registered 25 first downs on the night, 20 via the pass. They were penalized five times for 46 yards and recovered their only fumble. Justin Holt punted 48.4 yards.

Raheem Robinson led the Southwest defense with 10 tackles, including one for loss. Cassaus Hall had nine stops and Jose Patterson intercepted a pass.

Pearl River totaled 394 yards of offense. Favre and Holder combined to complete 21 of 42 passes for 250 yards. Favre had one touchdown pass, and one interception, while Holder tossed three scoring passes. Johnson led the Wildcats’ receivers with four catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Holder carried the ball 14 times for 76 yards while Holder rushed 13 times for 67 yards.

The Wildcats picked up 19 first downs and were whistled for 82 yards on nine penalties. King punted seven times for 30 yards.

The Bears hit the road to Raymond for their next contest as they try to spoil homecoming for Hinds Community College on October 4. Kickoff is set for 7:00.

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Bears lose heartbreaker to Pearl River