By Chris Baker

The Farmville Herald

The Prince Edward County varsity football team hosted Bluestone High School for its homecoming game on Friday, and the Eagles were the victors of a soggy battle against the Barons. Prince Edward beat the Barons 26-24

The weather took its toll on the game right away as a Baron halfback slipped and fell on their first possession. The tumble wouldn’t stop Bluestone from finding the end zone through the air, striking first and taking the early 7-0 lead over Prince Edward following the point-after. The Barons scored again late in the first quarter, putting them up 14-0 over the Eagles.

The Eagles came alive in the second quarter. A short pass from Eagles’ quarterback Joel Thomas to A’Neal Walker started their first scoring drive. Prince Edward then fed the ball to their senior tailback Delquan Bigelow who put on a highlight reel in his pursuit of the end zone. Bigelow flipped over a Bluestone player for an Eagles first down within the goal line, and capped off the drive with a short touchdown run, halving the Baron lead to 14-7.

Just before halftime, the Barons took one more shot at the end zone, this time through the air. Eagles’ Brandon McKay came down with an impressive interception in the end zone as the clock ran out in the half.

The Barons sent a booming kick-off to start the third quarter and Delquan Bigelow almost returned it for the tying touchdown but was stopped 25 yards shy. The Eagle drive ended with an attempt at the end zone which gave Bluestone the ball on downs.

Prince Edward’s defense reciprocated by turning Bluestone over on downs. This time the Eagles weren’t denied the end zone as Bigelow found room for another touchdown on a sweep. The two-point play after the Eagle touchdown was not converted, which left Prince Edward trailing by just one point.

Bluestone took the following kick-off to midfield. The Barons settled for a field goal after the Eagle defense showed up big near the goal line. At the end of the third quarter the Barons led the Eagles, 17-13.

Prince Edward took advantage of a Baron holding penalty which would have otherwise resulted in a touchdown. Instead the Eagles’ defense took the ball from Bluestone on downs, giving their offense great field position.

The Eagles gave the ball to their play-maker Bigelow who ran his way to his third rushing touchdown of the night. The Eagles took their first lead of the game, 20-17, with just over five minutes left in the game.

It took just thirty seconds for the Barons to take the lead back with a rushing touchdown.

The Eagle offense pushed down-field after the kickoff, led by Bigelow who managed to punch in the game-winning score on the ground.

The Barons tried to make things interesting by marching down the field but were unable to score on the Eagle defense in the final seconds of the game.

Bigelow finished the night with 34 carries for 273 yards and four touchdowns. He also had a kickoff return for 60 yards.

Joel Thomas went 3-for-nine in passing for 21 yards.

Brandon McKay led the Eagle defense with 12 tackles and an interception, while K’Nyron Cordell had 11 tackles.

Rajai Walton had nine tackles and a pass defended. Markeem Trent finished with eight tackles.

The Bluestone Barons are now (1-3) while Prince Edward snapped a three-game losing streak with the win on their homecoming night leaving them (2-3). The Eagles look to take carry the energy of a homecoming victory into next week when they play Goochland High School at home with a 7 p.m. start.