Coming in off a bye week, Prince Edward saw its best chance at a season-opening victory go by the boards in a 28-7 loss to Southampton in the Southside District opener for both squads.

Six turnovers to Southampton's none, and a few big plays here and there, gave the Indians a 28-7 road victory over the Eagles.

“We know we're young, and we're going to make young mistakes, but we've got to correct from week to week,” said PECHS head coach Terrence Edmonds. “We can't afford to make the same mistakes each time out.”

Prince Edward (0-4, 0-1 SSD) moved the ball well throughout the night, but with the exception of one drive in the first quarter was unable to come away with points.

The Eagles took the lead on its second possession late in the first quarter on a screen pass from Jeremy Walker to Raheem Smith.

On fourth-and-nine from the Southampton 32-yard-line, senior quarterback Jeremy Walker hit Smith on a screen pass to give PE its first lead of the season.

It was short lived. Southampton (2-2, 1-0 SSD) capitalized on a defensive mistake to tie the game on its next possession on third and 13 from its own 45-yard-line.

“Our defender tried to jump the route, and missed the ball and the receiver,” said Edmonds. “That's a situation where you concentrate more on managing the play, and not allowing the conversion, rather than trying for the home run. We've had a couple of instances where we should better recognize the situation. Sometimes it's better to bat a ball down, rather than go for the interception.”

Southampton scored once more before the half on a short pass, and scored twice more in the second half on touchdown passes. Twice, the Indians were able to capitalize on tipped balls that went for scores.

“You see college players doing it too, so it's not like it's just us that are getting burned on balls that maybe should be batted down. Still, it's frustrating, because we played pretty well defensively.”

Prince Edward committed seven turnovers (four lost fumbles and three interceptions), while forcing none defensively.

“It's hard to win games when you're giving the ball back like that, but then you look at the final score and see that even with seven turnovers, the game was there to be had.”

Raheem Nash led the Eagles with six carries for 44 yards, while Ralick Lockett rushed ten times for 51 yards. Walker was 8-12 passing for one touchdown, but threw two interceptions.

Smith had two receptions for 35 yards and the touchdown, and Lockett had two catches for 35 yards.

Noah Bowman led PE defensively with eight tackles (six solo). Smith had six stops (five solo) and Lockett had six tackles (four solo).

“We need a break for the ball to fall our way,” said Edmonds. “We can force fumbles, but they seem to always be recovered by the offense, where we lose our fumbles. If we can start to get a few to go our way, maybe that will give us the confidence we need.”

Prince Edward will host Park View on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.