Pleasant Home (0-3) held Notasulga close in the first half Friday night, but ultimately fell 61-28 in Pleasant Home.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot,” Eagles’ coach Chris Mason said. “We fumbled the ball five times tonight, and we could not tackle.”

The Eagles, however, were dealing with injuries tonight and left them with a ninth grader starting at quarterback.

“Our first two quarterbacks weren’t cleared to play tonight,” Mason said. “We didn’t find out until yesterday that they wouldn’t be able to play, but Josh Ruth came in a played very good in their place. I was very proud of him.”

Mason said the Eagles’ offensive line played great, but turnovers plagued the Eagles the entire game.

“Our offensive line dominated them in the first half,” Mason said. “We just killed ourselves with turnovers and missed tackles. We would score on sustained drives, and then they would turn around and score on two plays. Our problem right now is a total lack of the ability to tackle. We are in position to make plays, but we can’t seem to make the tackles.”

Mason said that the Eagles led 14-13 early in the second quarter, and only trailed 21-14 at halftime.

“We kept it close for the first half,” Mason said. “We moved the ball extremely well in the first half, but only touched the ball three times in the second half.”

Mason said that the Eagles aren’t going to give up though, as they still have plenty of the season left.

“We still have five region games left,” Mason said. “If we can win three of those, we can make it to the playoffs. Only thing we can do know is strap back up Monday and get back to work. I’m going to continue to challenge these guys to get better each week. The potential is there, we just have to take pride in the small things.”

Rico Bovino led the way for the Eagles’ rushing attack with 130 yards on 11 carries and three touchdowns.

Reid Adams finished the night with 120 yards on 22 carries.

D.J. Veasey was the leader on defense with five tackles and one interception. Josh Ruth also finished the night with five tackles.

Mason said the Eagles will get back to work and prepare for next week’s region battle with Kinston.