JACKSON — Clayton Holmes sure knows how to a set a tone.

Holmes returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown for the second straight week, ran for a score, threw a touchdown pass and had 317 total yards — all in the first half — to lead Porters Chapel to a 43-7 rout of Veritas on Friday.

Holmes finished with 77 rushing yards on seven carries, and was 7-for-11 passing for 151 yards. He did not throw a pass and only carried the ball once in the second half.

“We got started off slow. Luckily, Clayton was there to pick us up. The first half was all Clayton,” said PCA running back Josh Perry, who had 111 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

PCA (4-0, 1-0 District 5-A) controlled the game from the start, but also seemed lifeless in the first half. Defenders failed to finish tackles — a bad habit that allowed Veritas quarterback Jesse Blakemore to break off a 73-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter — and fumbled four times. Two of the fumbles were lost inside Veritas territory, including one at the 8-yard line.

Even so, the Eagles still racked up 310 yards of offense in the first two quarters and led 27-7 at halftime. Holmes followed up his 94-yard kickoff return with an 18-yard TD run, then threw a 14-yard TD pass to Reed Gordon with 9:16 left in the second quarter to make it 20-7. Perry’s 4-yard run with 1:12 left finished the first-half scoring.

“We underestimated this team. After the first couple of drives, we realized we had to step up or get embarrassed,” Holmes said. “This is probably the worst game we’ve had all year. We’re never going to let this happen again.”

After Perry’s 10-yard run on PCA’s first drive of the second half made it 34-7, PCA coach Randy Wright called off the dogs. He let senior offensive lineman Josh Hill punch in a short touchdown run — and tried to let center Joe Borrello do the same, but Borrello had the ball stripped from behind at the 5 — and had all but a few starters out of the game by the fourth quarter.

Hinds AHS 10, Raymond 7

Junior Chavez Johnson booted a 24-yard field goal with 8 seconds to play as Hinds AHS beat its archrivals.

“It’s the most dramatic win I have ever been a part of,” Hinds AHS coach Michael Fields said. “I think if our guys stay together, there will be good things to come.”

Darius Newton returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown for the War Dawgs’ other score. Hinds improved to 2-1 on the year heading into region play.

Tallulah Acad. 29, Franklin 0

John Robert Fortenberry caught two touchdown passes from Jes Shivers and the Tallulah Academy defense held Franklin to 100 total yards of offense as the Trojans improved to 3-1 on the season.

Shivers, who also had a 37-yard touchdown run, connected with Fortenberry on a 23-yard TD pass in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. Justin Horath’s 11-yard TD run in the second quarter increased the lead to 14-0 at halftime.

Shivers’ TD run midway through the third gave Tallulah a 21-0 lead and Shivers connected with Fortenberry early in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.

Shivers completed 6 of 8 passes for 66 yards and no interceptions. Tyler Jobe had eight tackles for the Trojans.

Strider 16, Briarfield 14

Briarfield Academy lost its first game of the year at Strider Academy.

Jeffrey Graham ran for 242 yards and scored on a 3-yard run and Jacob Hopkins connected on a 50-yard scoring pass to Ridge Creech. Hopkins also connected with Gabe Lensing on a 2-point conversion pass.

Ken Collins had 15 tackles for the Rebels (3-1, 2-1).

SIA 48, North Sunflower 6

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy won for the first time in two years.

No individual statistics were reported.

Kemper 50, Rebul 42

Rebul Academy, playing 8-man football, lost for the first time this season at Kemper.