The Drew Central Pirates first two conference contests of the season did not go as well as the team may have hoped for having dropped those games to the leading teams in the 6-3A, Camden Harmony-Grove by a score of 46-12 and to the Fordyce Redbugs 47-14.
In the contest against the Redbugs, the Pirates possibly lost more than the score on the board, because during the game with the Redbugs, the Pirates would see their starting quarterback leave the field with an injury as well as one of their leading defensive players who suffered a season ending injury.
Heading into the third conference contest on Friday, October 6, on the road against the Lake Village Beavers, the Pirates were still looking for the one conference win that would qualify the team for their second consecutive playoff bid.
With the loss of the Dollarway Cardinals from the 6-3A, a single conference win would qualify the Pirates for the postseason.
Travelling to Lake Village, the PIrates were not just looking to break their losing streak, but also hoped to overcome the injury bug that had plagued the team for the past several contests.
For the Beavers, they were also looking to gain their first conference victory, hoping to build off the momentum of their Junior High team who defeated the Junior Pirates 44-0 on Thursday night.
The Pirates would get out to a solid start in the first quarter at Lake Village scoring on a one-yard run, adding a two-point conversion and followed that with a two-yard run and a two-point conversion later in the quarter to take an 16-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Lake Village would get on the board in the second quarter and added a two point conversion but the Pirates would add 22 more points in the second to take a 38-8 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Pirate defense would hold the Beavers scoreless in the second half with the offense adding eight points in the third quarter to put the contest under the sportsmanship rule, 46-8, and added a final score in the fourth quarter to set up the final score of the contest of 52-6.
With the win the Pirates moved to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play, qualifying the team for the 3A State Playoffs.
The win also puts the Pirates in the fourth spot in the conference.
The Pirates will celebrate Homecoming this week, hosting the Barton Bears with a scheduled kickoff at 7 pm.
