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SPORTS INFORMATION Sept. 27, 2007 Pearl River faces East Central for the 64th time Thursday 'Cats enter game off 14-2 victory over Copiah-Lincoln; Warriors on two-game losing skid versus division foes By: Mitch Deaver POPLARVILLE — Nationally-ranked Pearl River travels to MACJC South Division rival East Central in A 6:30 p.m. kickoff is set. The sixth-ranked Wildcats, 3-1 overall and 1-1 in league play, enter the game off a 14-2 division win over Copiah-Lincoln last week in Dobie Holden Stadium in a hard-fought battle that saw both squads produce six turnovers. The Warriors, on the other hand, dropped to 2-2 overall and remained winless at 0-2 in division play after Southwest Mississippi rallied with two touchdowns in the final four minutes to take a 25-21 victory in Summit only a week after falling to nationally-ranked Jones County 32-29 on a last-minute touchdown pass. Sixth-year PRCC head coach Tim Hatten says East Central, which suffered a 31-14 setback last year in Poplarville, is a solid, formidable foe. “They (East Central) slipped up and lost their last two, but those were two that they could’ve easily won,” Hatten said. “Last week, a turnover (fumble) in the last two minutes resulted in Southwest coming back to beat them. “If they can avoid mistakes like that, they can beat anybody in the league. And barring their misfortunes the last two weeks, they would be undefeated right now.” The Warriors boast the second-best offense in the state, averaging 362.3 yards a game compared to the Wildcats’ No. 8 ranking at 294.5. The run is ECCC’s forte’, also at No. 2 with 243.8 yards an outing. Sophomore Roosevelt Ross leads the way on the ground, averaging 99.5 yards a game — second in the state — while freshman Maurice Langston is in a two-way tie for sixth in rushing with an 82.5-yard average. The duo are also first and fourth in the league in scoring with Ross with seven TDs and Langston five. Sophomore quarterback Deon Williams leads the Warrior offense. “Williams is a good player and has those two backs to compliment him. They all run around well and have a host of strong, quick athletes,” Hatten explained. East Central opened its season with back-to-back road wins over PRCC quarterback Pat Oliver will get his second collegiate start against ECCC. The true freshman out of East Central performed admirably against Co-Lin, completing 14 of 30 throws (three interceptions) for 201 yards and a touchdown. “Pat’s still settling in,” Hatten said. “Considering it was his first-ever start on this level, he played well I thought. Two of his interceptions were deflections and he had at least four or five dropped balls. And a couple of those could have sent for long gainers or even scores. He could’ve easily had a 300-plus (yards) night.“ East Central head coach Terry Underwood, a former The Wildcat-Warrior Rivalry East Central was a 26-16 winner over PRCC in Pearl River took a 13-9 victory over the Warriors in PRCC’s 2004 blowout in Poplarville is ranked 10th among the school’s top victories by points, while the Wildcats opened their season by defeating the Warriors 35-10 last year on the road. Prior to the division-clinching win in 2002, the last time PRCC defeated the Warriors was in 1995 by a lopsided 58-10 score. ECCC followed by reeling off six straight victories, including 1999's 46-7 splattering in Poplarville which is the second-worst loss by a PRCC team in school history. Lopsided scores are not uncommon in the series. PRCC’s 48-point victory in 1995 was one of the biggest wins in Wildcat history, while in 1969, Pearl River won 61-18 in a game that saw 47 points come its way in the first half alone. In 1953, In legendary PRCC head coach Dobie Holden’s inaugural season with the Wildcats in 1946, the two schools battled to a 0-0 deadlock, but over the next 19 seasons Holden won 14 and lost only two. John Russell, Holden’s long-time assistant coach and head coaching successor, lost 20-11 in his first game with the Wildcats in 1967, but won six straight before resigning before the 1974 season. J.C. Arban arrived on the scene in 1975 and recorded a 6-4-1 mark, while he was followed by Mike Nelson who won three and lost one. Willie Coats, who left PRCC for East Central following the 1994 season, was a perfect 5-0 against the Warriors, while Keith Daniels, who coached the Wildcats from 1995 until midway of the 2000 season when he died of a brain hemorrhage, was 1-4 in five-and-a-half seasons. The Warriors have never won a state championship, while the Wildcats have won an MACJC record 19, including two national titles in 1961 and 2004. Elsewhere Around The League In other action around the league last week, Jones (4-0) is the league’s only undefeated team after handing non-division rival Itawamba (3-1) its first loss of the year with a 14-12 victory in Ellisville, Mississippi Gulf Coast (3-1, 1-1) defeated Hinds (2-2, 0-1) 37-13 in Perkinston, Northwest Mississippi (2-2, 2-0) defeated winless Northeast Mississippi (0-4, 0-1) 31-14 in Booneville, Mississippi Delta (3-1, 2-0) trimmed winless Coahoma (0-4, 0-1) 19-17 in Moorhead, East Mississippi (1-3, 1-1) nipped Holmes (1-3, 0-2) 9-6 in Goodham, and Southwest Mississippi (2-2, 1-1) defeated East Central (1-3, 0-2) 33-15 in Decatur. This Week Around The League Other Thursday games around the league this week sees Coahoma hosting Holmes in Clarksdale, East Mississippi hosting Northwest Mississippi in Scooba, Hinds hosting Jones in Raymond, Itawamba hosting Northeast Mississippi in Fulton, and Southwest Mississippi hosting Mississippi Delta in Summit. Listen To The Wildcats All Pearl River games are broadcast live on WMXI-FM (98.1) in n |