Pillow Academy coach Michael Fair was disgusted with his team's performance, and he made sure it knew it.
Following a 49-28 loss to SBEC Friday night at PA's Bill Davis Field, Fair's postgame message cut straight to the point: "I hope the sight of that scoreboard makes you sick inside because it sure does me. We've got to work harder and be more focused so that never happens again."
Between four turnovers and the inability to stop SBEC quarterback Josh Kimberlin, the Mustangs were never really in the game.
SBEC scored 28 unanswered points for a 35-7 lead in the second quarter and went in up 35-14 at the half.
Kimberlin scored four of his team's five first-half touchdowns. He caught a 94-yard scoring pass on the first play of the game off a reverse pass, had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and added rushing scores of 18 and 16 yards.
Kimberlin was the main reason the Trojans rolled up 283 total yards in the first half. He added two more rushing touchdowns in the second half to finish with six of his team's seven TDs.
"We knew (Kimberlin) was a real talent, and he exploited some of our weaknesses," Fair said. "This is absolutely disappointing, though. He ran all over us. It was evident a few days ago in practice we weren't going to be ready to play."
The loss drops Pillow to 1-2 heading into this week's showdown with top-ranked Jackson Academy, which is 3-0 after beating River Oaks (La.) 29-22 Friday night.
"We don't have long to worry about the way we played. We will practice hard Monday, learn from this and get better," Fair said.
SBEC improves to 3-0 on the season.
After the Trojans shocked the Mustangs with a touchdown on the first play of the game, the home team responded with an impressive nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Senior quarterback Landon Taylor and senior wide receiver Gaston Lyon hooked up twice on the drive, the first on a 25-yard connection on third and 13 and the second on a 30-yarder to cap the drive.
But SBEC quickly regained the momentum when Kimberlin took the ensuing kick back 99 yards, untouched, for a score.
Pillow then committed its first turnover when SBEC's David Cummings picked off Taylor at the PA 28-yard line. Four plays later, the visitors from Southaven got a 4-yard touchdown run by Alexander Greer.
Taylor was again picked off on PA's next possession, and SBEC again converted the turnover into seven points for a 28-7 advantage with 1:43 left in the opening quarter.
After falling behind 35-7 early in the second quarter, the Mustangs made it 35-14 at the half on a 2-yard sneak by Taylor. They had a chance to pull even closer with a first-and-goal situation at the 5 just before the half but wound up turning the ball over on downs at the 3-yard line.
"We had some opportunities to stay in the game but just couldn't make the plays when we needed it most," Fair said.
SBEC stretched its lead to 42-14 before Taylor hit sophomore receiver Sammie Epps with a 24-yard TD pass.
Senior fullback Gage Long got PA's final score with 1:57 to play on a 13-yard run.
Long finished with 117 hard-earned yards on 15 carries to lead the PA offense.
Cody Beam led the defense with nine total tackles and one caused fumble.
• Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
