POPLARVILLE – The Bears entered Thursday's contest at Pearl River hoping to put the rough outings in the first two weeks of the season behind them and turn things around in the MACCC South Division opener against the Wildcats. And even though they went toe-to-toe with the hosts through the first half, things fell apart in the second and they could not climb back into the contest, falling 27-17.

"The guys have to find a way to make the plays," Southwest head coach Cliff Collins said. "They were in position, they were playing hard but was the same old thing. We have to have a breakthrough week."

The Bears (0-3), fell behind early when the Wildcats moved down the field, on the game's opening drive, before scoring on a 15-yard run.

Despite this, Southwest answered right back on the ensuing drive. Success both on the ground and through the air moved the Bears down to the Wildcat 7-yard line before Tedarrius Aych punched it in for the score. Lyndell Boatman added the extra point tying the game at 7.

Later in the quarter, the Wildcats jumped back on top following a 4-yard touchdown run.

With just under 6:00 to go until halftime, the Bears pulled even once again. An 11-play, 76-yard drive, which was highlighted by a 33-yard run by Jalen Williams down to the Pearl River 1-yard line, wrapped with another short touchdown run by Aych.

Pearl River scored again with under a minute to go to take a 21-14 lead but the Bears displayed a strong two-minute offense getting a big 28-yard pass from Henry Brewer to Marcellus Jackson which set up a 21-yard field goal by Boatman as time expired pulling the Bears within four at 21-17 at the half.

Even though the Bears inched closer and got the score just before the half to make it a one-score game, they could not hang on to the momentum in the second half. A three-and-out by the Southwest offense on the opening possession was answered by a Pearl River 11-play, 95-yard drive that took nearly 6:00 off the clock and culminated with a 7-yard rushing score growing the deficit for the visitors to 10 at 27-17.

Three-and-outs during the next two Bear drives kept the deficit at 10 as play moved into the fourth quarter.

After the Southwest defense forced a three-and-out on Pearl River, the Bears regained possession and put together a promising drive, moving the ball down inside the red zone. The drive stalled, forcing a field goal attempt which missed just to the left keeping the score at 27-17.

The Wildcats then put together a 13-play, 44-yard drive and even though they came away with no points on the possession, they ran an additional 6:34 off of the game clock. When Southwest regained possession, the Bears had under two minutes to go to try and climb back into the contest.

Despite a valiant effort from the Bears including a big 37-yard completion from Brewer to Jackson, they could not come away with any points as the Wildcats took over and ran the clock out, handing Southwest the loss.

Jackson led the offense finishing with six catches for 148 yards. Williams led the ground game with 72 yards on 15 carries while Aych had two rushing touchdowns.

Danarius Hilliard and Jeffery Polk Jr each had big games on defense with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively. Each also had a tackle for loss with Polk also adding a forced fumble.

The Bears return home to host Mississippi Gulf Coast Thursday at 7 p.m.