JACKSON — Forest Hill High School took advantage of its size and depth over Class 3A Wilkinson County High School, but it probably took longer than the Class 6A Patriots thought it would.

After three quarters of play ended with a 6-6 tie, Forest Hill finally wore down Wilkinson County and scored 20 unanswered points to take a 26-6 win over the Wildcats.

But as Wilkinson County head coach Kenneth Brown put it, it wasn’t in just the fourth quarter when the Wildcats lost the game.

“Turnovers early in the game cost us this ball game, too many turnovers. We had opportunities to score. We just laid it on the ground too many times,” Brown said.

Forest Hill took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter before Wilkinson County quarterback Desmond Hunter connected with Travion Jones on a 68-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at six.

Neither team was able to put any points on the board in the third quarter, but the Patriots took control of the game with a touchdown early in the fourth and never allowed the Wildcats back in it.

“Depth played a factor. They’re a 6A school. But we hung in there for three quarters,” Brown said. “We got fatigued. We stopped making tackles. We stopped blocking and the mind sometimes takes over. It won’t let you do what you’re able to do.”

Hunter ended up completing 11 of 22 passes for 111 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Jones was the Wildcats’ leading receiver with four catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.

Lamar Jackson led Wilkinson County in rushing with 65 yards on 11 carries. Defensively, Anfernee Earls finished with 13 total tackles and Khan Jarvis had 12 total tackles.

“Hopefully, we’ll learn from it. We just have to go back to the drawing board and get ready for another long road trip.”

Wilkinson County (1-3) next plays a week from today at South Plaquemines (La.) High School. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.