A penalty on an apparent Prince Edward touchdown pass just before halftime could have changed the complexion of the Eagles’ football game against Nottoway Friday night, but instead the Cougars took a two-touchdown lead into halftime and cruised to a 58-20 victory.

Following a Prince Edward interception by Tray Scott with just over two minutes left in the first half, Prince Edward drove down the field and into the Nottoway red zone with seconds remaining. Quarterback Joel Thomas appeared to have completed a touchdown pass that would have put the Eagles down by just one score going into halftime, but an illegal shift call kept them off the board and gave Nottoway a 22-6 halftime lead. PECHS football coach James Ford said, “That touchdown would have been huge.”

Nottoway got on the board first as Thomas Parris ripped off a 32-yard run to put his team up 6-0. Parrish got another long run to set up a second Cougars touchdown that gave them a 14-0 lead, after two extra points, with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.

Prince Edward answered back with its own star running back, Delquan Bigelow, weaving through traffic and racing by Nottoway defenders on the way to a 70-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 14-6.

The Thomas Parrish show continued for the Cougars as he scored on a 15-yard run and added a two-point conversion to give Nottoway a 22-6 lead that would stay that way until the second half.

After a nice return on the second half kick off, Prince Edward went to Bigelow early and often. He responded with a six-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 22-12. The Eagles momentum would not last long as Nottoway scored a pair of touchdowns and two two-point conversions in the third quarter to surge ahead 38-12.

Bigelow and the Eagles offense kept battling as he added a 42-yard touchdown run just before the end of the third quarter to cut the lead down. He also added an 84-yard kick return for a touchdown to his total yards for the night in the fourth quarter. Despite some good offense and a great night on the ground from Bigelow, Nottoway took the victory in a 58-20 final.

“We were struggling with a couple of guys with injuries and that affected us,” said Ford. “Nottoway came to play and we need to answer the bell verses our next opponent.”

Bigelow ended the night with 231 yards on 24 carries while scoring three rushing touchdowns and one kick return for a touchdown of 84 yards.

The Eagles will look to rebound Friday on the road as they take on Central Lunenburg at 7 p.m.