From the opening kickoff, things just seemed to go right for Porters Chapel Academy.

Clayton Holmes returned the opening kickoff 99 yards — he first muffed the kick and had to retreat to pick it up — and the Eagles scored 21 first-quarter points to rout Prairie View 34-8, avenging a 27-point loss a season ago.

“That was big and it set the tone real quick,” said Holmes, who also threw three touchdown passes. “They were talking in the newspaper that we weren’t that fast or that physical or that good.”

PCA answered all three of thosebeliefs in the first 12 minutes of the game.

Less than four minutes after Holmes’ kick return, Josh Perry scored on a 5-yard run to give PCA a 13-0 lead with 8 minutes, 26 seconds to play in the first quarter. Four minutes later, Perry took a screen pass and sprinted 52 yards for a 20-0 lead.

“We wanted to come out and show them that we weren’t slow and were physical and we did that,” said Perry, who had 60 yards rushing on seven carries and caught two balls for 54 yards.

In addition to the Eagles’ stout offense, the defense dominated as well. The Eagles held the Mississippi Private School Association’s leading rusher from a year ago, Allen Spires, to 105 yards on 21 carries. He accounted for 51 of those yards on two carries, including Prairie View’s only touchdown of the game, which came on the first possession of the second half when the Spartans came out in the seldom-used Notre Dame box offense.

“That shocked us,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. “Let me tell you, it seems to work well for them. It confused us in the second half. Spires in the box was a good move by them and it shell-shocked us a little bit.”

Prairie View took the opening kickoff of the second half and went 77 yards in eight plays. The drive was capped by a 31-yard Spires touchdown run. The 77 yards was 29 more than the Spartans gained in the first half. After the scoring drive, Prairie View only gained 54 yards the rest of the way.

“We got four really good defensive coaches and they made the adjustments,” Holmes said. “We figured it out after they got that touchdown.”

PCA took momentum back, driving 58 yards in eight plays to increase the lead to 34-8. Holmes capped it with a 12-yard scoring strike to Austin Palmer. Holmes finished 7-of-12 passing for 107 yards and did not throw and interception. Reed Gordon also caught a 12-yard TD pass from Holmes.

Tallulah 40, Veritas 14

Justin Horath ran for 186 yards on 29 carries and scored two touchdowns, and teammate Cody Landrum ran for 163 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns as Tallulah improved to 2-1.

Veritas’ Kellen Baker hauled in an 80-yard scoring pass from Jesse Blakemore 35 seconds into the game, then Tallulah reeled off 20 unanswered points to end the half up 20-7.

After a Veritas touchdown in the third quarter, Tallulah again strung together three unanswered touchdowns to take the 26-point win.

Jes Shivers scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Tres Kivett to cap the Trojans’ scoring.

Tallulah ran for 369 yards as a team and threw for 57 more. Wade Walker had an interception and Cody Isaac had nine tackles to lead the Trojans.

Tallulah is scheduled to host Franklin on Friday night.

Briarfield 20, Humphreys 14

All week, Briarfield Academy players were sandbagging their community as flood waters ravaged the Northeast Louisiana town of Lake Providence. Nearly 20 inches of rain fell closing school and sending practice schedules into a frenzy.

On Friday night, the Rebels concentrated on football and improved to 3-0 along the way.

Jacob Hopkins completed the only two passes he threw all night for 90 yards and two touchdowns and Jeffrey Graham scored on a 15-yard run for the Rebels.

Briarfield held a 14-7 halftime lead and tied the game early in the third quarter, but Gabe Lensing caught a 32-yard scoring pass from Hopkins with 59 seconds to play in the third quarter for the 20-14 lead.

Graham ran for 113 yards on 20 carries and Ridge Creech caught a 58-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Ken Collins led the defense with 10 tackles and a sack, while Lawson King had 11 tackles.