PEARL RIVER COMMUNITY COLLEGE

SPORTS INFORMATION

Sept. 20, 2007

’Cats drop Wolves 14-2

Turnover-plagued game ends with Pearl River on top

By: Mitch Deaver

POPLARVILLE - Four-time defending MACJC football champ Pearl River came out on the winning end of a turnover-plagued South Division battle with Copiah-Lincoln’s Wolves here Thursday, taking a hard-fought 14-2 victory to improve to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in league play.

The win came on the coattail of the Wildcats’ stunning 24-17 defeat to now-fourth-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast in Perkinston a week earlier, which saw then-top-ranked PRCC plummet to seventh in this week’s NJCAA poll. While Pearl River picked up its 12-point victory, Gulf Coast, now 4-0 and 2-0, hammered Hinds 61-zip in Raymond.

Sixth-year Wildcat head coach Tim Hatten said the win wasn’t pretty.

“Any win, particularly and division win, is big,” he said. “But it wasn’t a pretty one at all. Right now, we’re next to pathetic offensively.”

Each team turned the ball over six times in the battle with PRCC picking off five of Co-Lin freshman quarterback Micah Davis throws. Brandon Burns of Columbiana, Ala., snatched three for 59 return yards, while Jamie Hill of Meridian High grabbed two for 56 yards.

Only one yard separated the two squads’ total offensive numbers with the Wildcats generating 237 yards (201 pass, 36 rush) and the Wolves 236 (147 pass, 89 rush).

Pearl River QB Pat Oliver of East Marion got his first collegiate start and played solidly, despite throwing three interceptions.

“Pat needs to play a little better, but for the first time to start in this league I don’t think he did so bad,” Hatten said. “Two of his picks weren’t his fault (deflections) and he tossed some beautiful balls that could have been for scores.”

The freshman from East Marion completed 14 of 30 passes for all of the Wildcats aerial yardage, including five to Roger Frazier of Lakeland, Fla., for 86.

Frazier also shined on special teams, as the sophomore transfer from Hutchinson (Kan.) CC amassed 101 return yards including 73 on three punt returns.

Davis was intercepted on the fourth play of Co-Lin’s second possession and Burns returned his pick 19 yards to the Wolves’ 41 where Oliver followed with his first pick on the Wildcats’ first snap.

Five plays into PRCC’s ensuing possession, Co-Lin DB Victor Pickins grabbed a deflected Oliver throw at his own 25 and returned it to Wolves’ four only to see his effort moved back 15 yards via a unsportsmanlike penalty.

Two snaps later, LB Hendrick Leverette forced a Kentrell Cleveland fumble and Anthony Shaw recovered.

The Wolves drove 71 yards on seven plays to the Wildcat 22 on their ensuing possession only to see Willie Thibodeaux go wide left on a 40-yard field goal attempt three snaps into the second period.

Midway into the quarter, the Wildcats drove to the Wolves’ seven where preseason All-American Brad Bingham of Moss Point was wide on a 25-yard field goal attempt, but Frazier returned Thibodeaux’s punt on Co-Lin’s ensuing possession 23 yards to Wolf 42 where Oliver tossed back-to-back completions to Theo Wilson of Clearwater, Fla., with the last one good for a 14-yard touchdown. Bingham’s PAT put PRCC up 7-0 with 4:01 left in the half.

Hill picked off Davis on the first play of Co-Lin’s ensuing possession, then Oliver immediately fumbled it away on the Wildcats’ first play at his own 45. Thibodeaux punted a 39-yard beauty to the PRCC two seven snaps later where the Wolves’ got their only points via a safety after back up QB Wilson was called for intentional grounding in the end zone on a third and seven.

Hill got his second pick off Davis on the last play of the first half and returned it 51 yards as the buzzer sounded.

On Co-Lin’s second series of the third, Thibodeaux’s 35-yard punt to the Wildcat 37 bounced into the back of a PRCC player and the Wolves recovered. Three plays later, Burns grabbed his second pick of the night and returned it 31 yards to the Wolves’ 44.

On Pearl River’s next possession, the Wildcats drove 45 yards in nine plays, thanks in part to three Co-Lin penalties for 22 yards, where Bingham missed on a 30-yard field goal attempt. The Wolves went three and out and Frazier followed with a 42-yard punt return to the Co-Lin 38 where Oliver threw his third interception seven plays later at the six.

Another Wolf three and out followed and Thibodeaux booted a 65-yard unreturned beauty to the Wildcat 24 where Oliver engineered a seven-play scoring drive the game’s final points.

Oliver hit Frazier with a 46-yard completion on a second and eight to the Co-Lin two where Leverette got back-to-back carries for the score. Bingham’s PAT made it 14-2 with 8:05 left.

Burns got his final interception of the game four plays into the Wolves’ ensuing series.

PRCC finished the game with 14 first downs to CLCC’s 10, while the Wolves drew 15 flags for 115 yards to the Wildcats’ eight for 75.

Frazier led all receivers in the contest with five catches for 86 yards, while Wilson had four for 58 and Jerry Duncan of Petal four for 49. Co-Lin’s Jason Bruce had seven catches for 82 yards, while Davis finished the night completing 18 of 39 passes.

Bubba Kirksey of Hattiesburg High ran 20 times for a game-high 68 yards, while Latarus Frazier paced the Wolves with 43 yards on four attempts.

More division action resumes next Thursday when Pearl River travels to East Central in Decatur (6:30 p.m. kickoff), while Co-Lin hosts nationally-ranked Gulf Coast travels in Wesson (7 p.m. kickoff).

Elsewhere around the MACJC

In other South Division action Thursday, Southwest Mississippi (3-1, 1-1) trimmed East Central (2-2, 0-2) 25-21 in Summit. In the North, Northwest Mississippi (3-1, 2-0) edged winless Northeast Mississippi (0-4, 0-1) in Senatobia, East Mississippi (1-3, 1-1) squeaked by winless Holmes (0-4, 0-2) in Scooba, and Coahoma (1-3, 1-1) rallied late to defeat Mississippi Delta (1-3, 1-1) in Clarksdale. In the only inter-division contest of the week, eighth-ranked Jones County (4-0, 1-0) smacked Itawamba (3-1, 1-0) 36-7 in Fulton.

Next week in the MACJC

Next week in the MACJC North Division, Holmes hosts Coahoma in Goodman, Northwest Mississippi hosts East Mississippi in Senatobia, and Northeast Mississippi hosts Itawamba in Booneville; while in the South, Jones County hosts Hinds in Ellisville. Next week’s only inter-division match up sees Mississippi Delta hosting Southwest Mississippi in Moorhead.

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