- Feb 8, 2018

Wildcats add 30 players on football Signing Day

POPLARVILLE – Pearl River Community College had a busy and successful day Wednesday, as the Wildcats signed 30 players to scholarship offers on National Signing Day.

“I’m extremely excited about our signing class,” said PRCC coach Ted Egger. “I thought our coaches did a tremendous job recruiting, and getting some needs met to help make this coming football season a success.”

Three areas that Egger and his staff zeroed in on were the offensive and defensive lines, and the secondary, areas where PRCC suffered some key graduation losses.

“I thought we addressed some needs up front, on both sides of the ball,” said Egger. “And we lost basically everybody in our secondary, so we addressed that as well.”

An added bonus, from Egger’s point of view, was how the Wildcats stayed relatively close to home in signing players.

Of the 30 players Pearl River signed on Wednesday, 10 are from schools in the school’s six-county district (Forrest, Hancock, Lamar, Jefferson Davis, Marion and Pearl River).

That group includes five players from Class 3A state champion Jefferson Davis County High School, including two players who played in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star game, offensive lineman Justin Ducksworth and linebacker Darrell Sims.

“They’re a state championship team, with talented kids in our district,” said Egger. “Coach (Lance) Mancuso does a great job with the program there.

“We also got kids from Bay, St. Stanislaus, Oak Grove and Hancock. So we’re excited about the direction we’re going.”

Although the Wildcats return three veterans in the backfield, along with All-State first team quarterback Markevion Quinn, Pearl River signed five players who ran for more than 1,000 yards in the 2017 season.

“We have three running backs returning in Jesse Pernell, Chandler Roberts and Ron Thompson,” Egger said.

“There wasn’t so much of a need there, but we’ve brought in some guys who can play numerous positions. They can play the running back, they can play in the slot, they can play on defense. So we’re happy with what they can do.”

Among the more impressive numbers among the Wildcat signees were those put up by T.J. Wash, a quarterback from Scott Central, passed for 1,232 yards and 21 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,311 yards and 25 scores.

But the most eye-popping numbers among the PRCC Class of 2018 belong to linebacker Tyteon Gordon of Meridian, who was credited with 251 tackles, including 22 for loss.

The newcomers will join a team that appears to be the upswing after finishing 2017 with a 5-4 record, winning three of its last four games, including a big 31-27 upset of Mississippi Gulf Coast.

A complete list of Pearl River signees:

Joe Applewhite, Jefferson Davis County WR/CB (6-5, 205)

Ronald Baker, Jefferson Davis County WR/CB (5-11, 165)

Cantrell Banks, Lake CB/RB (6-3, 215)

Hayden Brice, St. Joseph (Madison) WR/MLB (6-3, 195)

C.J. Burnside, Philadelphia OL/DE (6-3, 255)

Gary Butler, McComb WR/QB

DeMartel Carter, Yazoo County DL/OL (6-3, 350)

Kylan Carter, Oak Grove OL (6-0, 250)

Zeke Chapman, Lake DL/TE (6-4, 261)

Marquis Cherry, Hancock RB (6-2, 215)

Kobe Cole, Madison Central OLB/SS (5-8, 185)