ABERDEEN – Aberdeen coach Chris Duncan had a heart-to-heart with his Bulldogs following Friday’s 14-0 Division 2-3A win against Mooreville.

“We came out flat and played flat for four quarters,” Duncan said afterward. “Didn’t make plays and didn’t do things that are supposed to be done. A win’s a win, but at this point in the year we shouldn’t be playing like that.”

Aberdeen, the Daily Journal’s No. 1-ranked Class 3A school, didn’t look like it, fumbling snaps, missing throws and not catching the ones thrown on target.

On homecoming, the Bulldogs scored twice in the second quarter, both from deep in their own territory. Jamerson Love put the Bulldogs (7-2, 3-0 Division 2-3A) ahead 6-0 with a 65 yard run.

Aberdeen went ahead 14-0 after Rashad Pargo caught a 74 yard pass from quarterback Aaron Andrews with 8 minutes, 39 seconds left in the half. Decedrick Quinn ran in the two-point conversion.

That was enough for the defense to protect a winning streak that now stands at six games.

“Defensively we played pretty good,” Duncan said. “They had a few passes they caught on us, but I guess decent, not great intensity all night.”

Mooreville, tied for fifth in the Journal poll, stopped itself on a second quarter drive. Trooper quarterback Griff Loftis had completed first down passes to Channing Nanney and Josh Box. A 10 yard first down pass to Nanney was called back on a holding penalty and the drive stalled inside the Aberdeen 40.

“I was disappointed because we couldn’t do any more offensively,” Mooreville coach Kevin Austin said. “I thought our defense played great. Aberdeen didn’t play their best game tonight and everybody knows that, but our defense did a good job of not giving up the big plays.

“We’ve got to find an identity on offense.”

Andrews was 10 of 25 for 205 yards and a touchdown. Loftis was 11 of 25 for 93 yards and three picks.

In the fourth quarter, Pargo ended a Mooreville threat. He had just missed a sure-fire touchdown when his knee knocked the ball from his hands at the Mooreville 15 yard line. With Mooreville threatening at the Aberdeen 35, the senior picked off Loftis at the 1 yard line.

Mooreville (6-3, 1-2) forced a punt and took over at the Aberdeen 34 with 2:10 to play but Pargo’s second pick, this one at the Aberdeen 4 yard line, sealed the win with less than a minute on the clock. Channing Ward also picked up a Mooreville fumble at his team’s 37 yard line in the third and teammate Mario Lucas had a third quarter pick at the Aberdeen 30.

“We dodged a bullet,” Duncan said. “We’ve got to get better. Hopefully we’ll understand that you can’t look past anybody. Homecoming always scares me to death and we played like it was homecoming. Kudos to Mooreville, they played our butts off.”