Wildcats take on Hinds in division showdown
Pearl River running back Caleb Batie bursts through a big hole on his way to 100 yards rushing in last week’s 59-40 victory over East Central at Decatur.
(Photo courtesy Juco Weekly)
POPLARVILLE – Fresh from its biggest offensive game in more than 10 years, Pearl River Community College returns home this week to battle Hinds in a South Division showdown.
Kickoff Thursday at Dobie Holden Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.
PRCC (2-1 overall) burst out offensively in a 59-40 victory over East Central last week in its division opener at Decatur. The Wildcats piled up 602 yards of offense, including 395 yards rushing.
“Our offensive coaches had a great game plan, and the kids executed it real well,” said first-year head coach Ted Egger.
Freshman quarterback Markevion Quinn came off the bench in place of injured starter Justin Agner and ran for 226 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Quinn was also 13 of 22 passing for 207 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore running back Caleb Batie rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns, and freshman wide receiver Tyler Polk scored two touchdowns out of the wildcat formation in backing up Quinn at quarterback.
Hinds (2-0, 1-0) comes into this week’s game with plenty of confidence after two impressive wins to open the season.
After the Eagles’ opener at Northwest was suspended, Hinds went on the road to upset Itawamba 35-31, then returned home last week to roll over Southwest 40-14 in the division opener.
Despite the big win, there were some areas that Egger was not pleased with. The defense gave up 40 points and 482 yards of offense against the Warriors, and the kickoff team gave up returns of 98 and 69 yards.
“Those are some things we have to get corrected,” said Egger. “We will get back to work this week and start getting ready for another division game against Hinds.”
THE SERIES
This is the 78th meeting between the Wildcats and the Warriors, with PRCC leading the series by a slim 39-36-2 margin.
The Eagles figure to come in with a chip on their shoulders after the Wildcats roared to a 42-20 victory last season, spoiling Hinds’ homecoming.
AROUND THE MACJC
In other action around the MACJC last week, Mississippi Gulf Coast surprised No. 13 Copiah-Lincoln 21-14 in South Division play. In North Division action, second-ranked East Mississippi crushed Northeast 59-0, Itawamba held off No. 5 Northwest 27-24, seventh-ranked Holmes knocked off Mississippi Delta 29-0 and Jones County pulled away from Coahoma 33-16 in non-division play.
There will be a full schedule of games on tap in the MACJC, once again all on Thursday.
In South Division games, Gulf Coast (2-1, 1-0) hosts East Central (1-2, 0-1) and Co-Lin (2-1, 0-1) travels to Jones County (2-1, 0-0). North Division games feature Itawamba (2-1, 1-0) playing at East Mississippi (3-0, 1-0), Coahoma (1-2, 0-0) visits Holmes (3-0, 1-0) and Northwest (2-1, 0-1) entertains Delta (0-3, 0-1). Northeast (0-3, 0-1) welcomes Southwest (0-3, 0-1) in non-division action.
ON THE AIR
Thursday’s game will air on WRJW-AM (1320) in Picayune and WFFF-FM (96.7) in Columbia and on supertalk.fm/listen, and will be livestreamed on prccmedia.com and youtube.com/pearlrivercollege.
