BOGUE CHITTO — After riding a two-game winning streak, theBogue Chitto Bobcats got a reality check Friday night on Troy SmithField. The Mercy Cross Crusaders from Biloxi took advantage of sixBobcat turnovers and cruised to a 51-26 Region 4-1A victory.

Bogue Chitto (2-3, 2-1) visits West Lincoln Friday night foranother region matchup. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Mercy Cross(4-1, 2-1), coached by Rocky Gaudin, invades Salem.

“We got whipped,” said Bogue Chitto head football coach GarethSartin after the loss. “We let them get the squib kick and that wasthe turning point in the ball game.”

Bogue Chitto took a brief 14-13 lead over Mercy Cross on aone-yard run by Donyea Dillon with 5:17 left in the secondquarter.

On the kickoff, the Bobcats recovered the football after itappeared the football was touched by a Crusader at the Bogue Chitto44-yard line. The officials held a brief meeting and reversed thecall, giving the ball to Mercy Cross.

MC running back/kicker Sean Brauchle (5-10, 175) finished thedrive, kicking his third field goal of the night from 18-yards outto give the Crusader’s a 16-14 edge going into halftime.

Brauchle finished the game with 18 carries for 139 yards.

“It (reversal) seemed to change the tempo,” added Sartin. “Theyplain whipped us after that.”

Brauchle scored an 80-yard touchdown return on the openingkickoff in the first quarter and kicked the PAT, his first of sixextra points for a 7-0 lead with 11:30 on the clock.

Before the end of the first quarter, Brauchle nailed field goalsof 22 and 26-yards to push the Crusaders lead to 13-0.

The Bobcats scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to takea brief 14-13 lead. Quarterback Seth Avants connected to runningback Donyea Dillon for a 27-yard TD. Avants ran the two-pointconversion to cut the lead to 13-8.

Four minutes later, Dillon went over the middle of the Crusaderdefense at the one for another touchdown. The run failed as thehosts led 14-13 over the visitors.

Following halftime, the lights went out on the east side of thefield. The game resumed several minutes later after the magnesiumlights slowly came back .

Mercy Cross was relentless on offense. On its first possessionin the third quarter, halfback Jonathan Lang hit split end RayParker on a 58-yard pass for the TD, pushing the Crusaders lead to23-14 with 7:30 left.

Bogue Chitto roared back with a two-yard plunge by Avants butfailed on the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 23-20 atthe 6:29 mark.

Four minutes later, Brauchle broke loose for a 22-yard runaround the right corner to give Mercy Cross a 30-20 advantage with2:46 showing.

In the fourth quarter, Lang recorded a pair of touchdowns from 4and 2-yards out to push the Crusaders’ lead to 44-20 with 7:25 leftin the game.

Bobcat Keyonna Perkins picked up a fumble and sprinted 30 yardsto the Crusader 29. Avants connected to Dontae Ratcliff for the29-yard score, cutting the Mercy Cross lead to 44-26.

With 3:13 remaining in the game, backup quarterback BeauUnderwood scored from one-yard deep to give the visitors theirfinal 51-26 lead.

Avants completed 11 of 21 passes for 211 yards and wasintercepted three times. Ratcliff was the leading receiver withfive catches for 142 yards.

Eighth grader Byron Kersee sparked the Bobcat running game with10 carries for 116 yards. Dillon followed with 45 yards on sixcarries.

For Mercy Cross, Lang rushed 15 times for 178 yards. Langcompleted 2 of 2 passes for 88 yards. Underwood finished going 2 of7 for 31 yards and was intercepted once.

Defensively, Mario Addison led Bogue Chittowith 13 tackles. Brian Robinson and Cole Laird finished with 10tackles apiece. Robinson also intercepted a pass.