PURVIS – The Purvis Tornadoes defeated the Lawrence County Cougars 36-20 in Division 7-4A high school football action Friday night, at Purvis High School.

Purvis clawed out a 15-13 halftime lead then dominated the second half in the important division win.

With the win, Purvis, coached by Perry Wheat, improved to 8-2 overall, and clinched second place in the division with a 4-1 mark. Lawrence County, under first-year coach Jaymie Palmer, fell to 6-5 overall. With the loss, they fell to fifth place in the division and out of the playoffs.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” Palmer said. “Our pre-season goals were to have a winning season and make the playoffs. We came close but came just a few points short. Still, I’m proud of this team, of the effort our players and coaches gave and of our winning season.”

The Cougars’ 6-5 mark gave LCHS its first winning or .500 season since Mike Davis’ Cougars went 6-6 in 2010. On Friday, Lawrence County either had to beat Purvis, or South Pike had to beat North Pike, for the Cougars to make the playoffs. North Pike defeated South Pike in a close game.

After Lawrence County and Purvis sparred evenly for most of three quarters, Purvis put the game away by scoring on three straight late possessions. First, with 1:29 left in the third quarter, Tornado quarterback Nathan Roseberry hit Cody Slade for 13 yards and a touchdown, to extend the Purvis lead to 22-13. Earlier in the drive, Roseberry passed for 23 yards on a fourth-and-nine play.

After a Cougar punt, Purvis drove 63 yards, with Roseberry passing to Carl Morris on a key third down conversion. Carlos Woodard scored on a 1-yard plunge, making it a 29-13 game.

Down by 16 midway though the fourth quarter, Lawrence County was moving nicely, when consecutive sacks of Charl’Tez Nunnery foiled the Cougars’ possession, and largely ended Lawrence County’s season. Nunnery fumbled on the second sack.

Two plays later, Purvis’s Levi Sumrall scored on a 20-yard run to give the Tornadoes an insurmountable 36-13 lead. Lawrence County tallied a late score on a Nunnery-to-Quitten Brown 5-yard pass. Long pass completions to T-Tez Cole, and Laderrick McCray set up the touchdown.

The first half had been entertaining and close. Purvis grabbed a 2-0 lead when a Lawrence County punt snap sailed out of the rear of the end zone, with 6:37 left in the first quarter.

Minutes later, after a Duke Tanksley fumble recovery, Lawrence County drove 54 yards in 12 plays, scoring on a Quitten Brown 5-yard run. LCHS led 6-2, after the extra point attempt was blocked.

In the middle of the second quarter, Purvis scored on two straight possessions, first on a 1-yard run by Woodward, and later on a 40-yard pass from Roseberry to Cody Slade. Purvis led 15-6 at that point.

Late in the first half, Lawrence County cut the Purvis lead to 15-13 on a 26-yard reverse run by Rykendrick Harness.

With the Cougar running game held to a pedestrian 90 yards on 25 carries, Nunney led the LCHS offense, completing 13 of 21 passes for 159 yards. T-Tez Cole had four receptions, while Harness and Marcus Atterberry each had three.

Roseberry, the Tornadoes’ veteran signal-caller, completed four of nine passes for 101 yards. Cody Slade had two catches, both for touchdowns, totaling 53 yards. Levi Sumrall led all rushers with 93 yards on 14 carries.