Rockets renew gridiron rivalry with Louisville

The Neshoba Central Rockets dropped their season opener to the visiting Pearl Pirates 35-10  Friday night in prep football action.

The Rockets will be seeking to rebound this Friday night when they renew an old rivalry with Louisville on the road. The Wildcats beat West Point 35-13 in their season opener.

“They were probably a better team the we were,” said coach Patrick Schoolar. “We did our best but we have a lot of room for improvement.”

The Rockets took the opening kickoff. They lined up to punt on fourth down. The ball was bobbled and Pearl recovered on the Rocket 19. Four plays later, Pearl scored from one-yard out. The kick was good and the Pirates led 7-0 with 8:46 left in the first quarter.

The Rockets came right back after Bo Hopson recovered a Pearl fumble on the Pirate 12-yard line. On the next play, Mark Kirkland carried the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. John Parker Hancock kicked the extra point and the score was tied at 7-7 with 3:08 left in the first quarter.

Pearl would score three times in the second quarter on two passes for 43 yards and 63 yards and a four-yard run. All three extra points   good and the Pirates led 28-7 at the half.

Hancock kicked a field goal in the third quarter and the Rockets trailed 28-10. Pearl scored its final points on a 30-yard touchdown pass with 8:38 left in the game. The kick was good and that was the final points in the game.

Pearl had 331 yards in total offense while Neshoba Central finished with 130 yards. Kirkland rushed for 64 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Will Williams completed 8-of18 passes for 48 yards.

On defense, Hopson finished with 16 tackles, one sack and two fumble recoveries. . Zach Griffin had eight tackles and two pass break ups; Jalyas Winters had six tackles, Darrian Ragsdale and Will Huffman both had eight tackles, Ahmarion Ragsdale had six tackles, one sack and one forced fumble,  and Tristan Pickens had nine tackles.