Pearl River preparing for East Mississippi
POPLARVILLE, Miss.— Pearl River will look to ride the momentum from its season-opening win into a second straight road trip Thursday when the Wildcats travel to Scooba to play East Mississippi.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Pearl River (1-0 overall) is fresh off of a thrilling 35-31 victory at Itawamba last Thursday. The Wildcats rallied late, scoring with 16.4 seconds remaining to stun the home fans in Fulton.
“I thought our kids did a really good job of persevering, fighting through some adversity and just finding a way to win,” Pearl River coach Ted Egger said. “Down the stretch we did a good job defensively of holding them to a couple field goal situations that they missed.”
Quarterback Terrence Humphrey (Clarksdale) burst onto the scene, completing 61.1 percent of his throws for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored on a 1-yard keeper. Running backs Lance Stewart (Oxford; Lafayette County) and Dymarcus Griffin (Richton) did a good job shouldering the carries, rushing for 89 and 47 yards respectively. Five different receivers caught passes, led by Jaylan Wilson (Bay St. Louis; Bay), who caught seven passes for 74 yards and a score.
Pearl River running back Lance Stewart heads up field during the Wildcats’ 35-31 victory at Itawamba on Aug. 29, 2019 in Fulton, Miss. The Wildcats travel to East Mississippi on Thursday. (JUCO WEEKLY)
Defensively, Noah Mitchell (Leakesville; Greene County) was all over the field, leading the Wildcats with 14 total tackles.
Radonte Womack (Prentiss; Jefferson Davis) led the defensive line effort, recording two of the team’s four sacks.
Gayden Hence (Hattiesburg) was reliable for the Wildcats kicking the ball, converting all five extra-point attempts and averaging more than 41 yards per punt.
SCOUTING EMCC
The Lions (0-1) entered the season at No. 1 but fell to Hinds 24-16 in their season opener. With the loss, EMCC tumbled to No. 5 in the latest ranking.
EMCC quarterback Connor Neville completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 275 yards and two scores but he also threw three interceptions. Collectively, EMCC’s running backs were held to 65 yards. Linebacker DeShawn Page led EMCC’s defensive efforts, recording eight tackles. EMCC also recorded five sacks and 11 tackles-for-loss.
“They’re going to be a good football team that’s well coached and plays hard,” Egger said. “Their coach will have them ready to go. We have to make sure we don’t make any mistakes and play disciplined football.”
Pearl River leads the all-time series 28-17-2.
NJCAA POLL
PRCC was one of a handful of teams receiving votes in the NJCAA’s first Top 20 poll, which was released Tuesday.
PRCC FOOTBALL BROADCASTS
All Pearl River football games will once again be livestreamed at PRCCAthletics.com and PRCCMedia.com. Games will also be broadcast on WRJW 1320 AM, WCJU 1450 AM in Columbia, WCJU 104.9 FM in Prentiss, and both WHSY 950 AM and WHSY 105.9 FM in Hattiesburg.
Individuals who have an Amazon Fire Stick or Roku device can also stream PRCC broadcast by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from the app store.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
