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Despite a tough fight, the Pleasant Home Eagles football team fell to the Kinston High School Bulldogs in a region match-up Friday night 31-7.

Pleasant Home was set to receive the ball first, but after an onside kick, the Bulldogs started with the ball on their opposing 47-yard line.

The Eagles were able to force a punt but ended up punting themselves on their first drive, pinning the Bulldogs on their own 14-yard line.

With 5:32 left in the first quarter, the Bulldogs had first blood as their running back broke an 81-yard run. After the PAT the Bulldogs were up 7-0.

After the touchdown, Kinston kicked another onside kick and recovered the ball on the 50-yard line.

The Eagles again forced them to punt and took over on the 5-yard line.

Jordan Davis had a big run for the Eagles and a horse collar flag was thrown. So, the Eagles kept on rolling to the 48-yard line.

Another big run by Robert Odom put the Eagles on the Kinston 30 yard line with 1:20 left in the game.

After an incomplete pass on fourth down, the Bulldogs took over on downs on their own 26-yard line.

The Bulldog running back had a huge run to the opposing 16-yard line, which ended up with a field goal with 8:21 left in the half to increase their lead to 10-0.

With 7:30 left in the game, the Eagles thought they had a touchdown after Jacob Price rushed to the end zone, but it was called back for holding.

After an incomplete pass on fourth down, the Bulldogs took over on downs.

With 9:53 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs struck again when their quarterback connected with their receiver for a 53-yard touchdown to go up 17-0.

An interception led to another Bulldog touchdown when they ran the ball to the opposing 8-yard line. The Kinston quarterback punched it in from the 1-yard line to go up 24-0.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kinston struck again with a 10-yard rushing touchdown, making it 31-0.

With five seconds left in the game, Mason Anderson connected with Davis for the Eagles only touchdown of the night.

“I think our guys played hard tonight,” PHS head coach Rick Mercer said. “We just made too many mistakes. We would have a good play, and then we would get a penalty. We scored a touchdown and then we get it called back. All the mistakes just makes it for a long night.”

Mercer said he has seen some growth from his young team throughout the season.

“I think we have gained a lot of experience this season,” Mercer said. “I mean, we have a freshman quarterback and a lot of young kids playing both offense and defense. We just have to grow up a little bit and stop making mistakes. We have a tough game against Florala next week, but we are ready to put up a fight.”

With the loss, the Eagles fall to (2-5) (2-3).

They host the Florala Wildcats next week at 7 p.m.