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SPORTS INFORMATION Oct. 4, 2007 Pearl River meets Holmes for 44th time Thursday Winless ’Dogs have lost two OT games before falling in the final seconds to Coahoma last week By: Mitch Deaver POPLARVILLE — The Pearl River-Holmes community college rivalry hits the gridiron for the 44th time here Thursday, when the four-time defending state champion Wildcats host the Bulldogs in a MACJC non-division match up in Dobie Holden Stadium. A 7 p.m. kickoff is set. A year ago, it took a 14-point fourth-quarter rally on the part of PRCC to take a hard-fought 21-14 victory over the Bulldogs in Goodman. The Wildcats’ first half on that Homecoming day was tagged as one of the most paltry offensive efforts in Wildcat head coach Tim Hatten’s tenure at The River. “That was the worst first half of football we’ve played since I’ve been here,” Hatten said after the game. “We just couldn’t find a nitch on offense and dropped way too many passes and made way too many bad throws.” This year’s sixth-ranked Wildcats, 4-1 overall, 2-1 in South Division, have also struggled to find an offensive groove. In last week’s 33-24 division win at East Central, PRCC managed a meager 116 yards of total offense in the first two quarters before its ground game came alive to muster 132 yards in the second half. Pearl River finished the night with 319 yards of total offense (168 rush, 151 pass). “We have to get better on offense,” said Hatten. “I can’t say enough about our inadequacies there. And we got hammered pretty good on the defensive side last week up in Decatur. They (East Central) ran wide on us seemingly at will and wound up with over 200 yards on the ground. That’s a pretty stout accomplishment against our guys.” Winless Holmes (0-5 overall, 0-3 in North Division) opened it season with a 30-14 loss to now-third-ranked and unbeaten Mississippi Gulf Coast in Goodman before following with a 34-3 road loss to Hinds, a 19-13 triple-overtime home loss to Northwest Mississippi to open division play, and a 31-30 OT road loss to division foe East Mississippi before falling to Coahoma 20-17 in the final 21 seconds last week in Clarksdale for its third defeat in the North. “Holmes will show up ready to play,” said Hatten. “They’ve yet to win one, but they’ve lost two in overtime and Coahoma beat them in the last few seconds of the game last week. “They are not to be taken lightly, particularly as erractic as we’ve been playing all season long. As bad as we’ve been at times, anybody can beat us on a given night.” Hatten did not, however, a few bright spots in last week’s game. “Bubba (Kirksey) ran well (83 yards on 15 carries) and our O-line run and pass blocked the best they have all year,” he said. “Those are positives you can build on, but by no means are we pleased at this point.” The Bulldogs are 12th in the league in total offense, averaging 258 yards (125.4 pass, 132.6 rush) a game; while the Wildcats are 10th with a 299.4 (204 pass, 95.4 rush) average. PRCC’s passing numbers are second-best in the state behind No. 1 Itawamba which throws for 212.8 yards a game. Defensively, Pearl River ranks second in the league, rendering a stingy 226 yards (80.4 pass, 145.6 rush) a game; while Holmes defenders rank 11th averaging 303.6 yards (113.4 pass, 186.8 rush) a game. The Wildcats pass defense bests all comers and leads the state in interceptions with 14. PRCC is tied with Jones for second in turnover margin with a plus-six, while Holmes is tied with Itawamba (third from the bottom) with a minus-two. The PRCC-Holmes Rivalry Pearl River leads the rivalry with 32 wins and 12 losses, while two of the Wildcat-Bulldog battles ended in deadlocks, including the two school’s first-ever meeting in 1938 when the game ended tied at 6-6. In 1984, things ended at 14-14, but PRCC ripped off seven straight victories before Holmes took a 26-14 win in Goodman in 2000, marking the first meeting between the two schools since 1995. The biggest Holmes victory was a 45-7 decision in the 1942 season, which was shortened due to World War II. That ranks as the four-worst loss by points in Wildcat history. Pearl River defeated Holmes by back-to-back 20-14 scores in the 1960 and 1961. The Wildcats won the state championship both of those years, including their only national title in 1961. PRCC has some very decisive victories over the Bulldogs, including 1969's 54-0 blowout which ranks tied for sixth in biggest victories by points. The Wildcats have won an unprecedented 19 state championships, while Holmes won titles in 1945 (co-champs with Hinds), 1950, 1981, and 2002. In 2001, PRCC rolled up 551 yards of total offense en route to a 42-10 victory over the Bulldogs in Dobie Holden Stadium. The Wildcats proved to be dominators in that battle, blowing the game open with 24 points in the first quarter alone. Quarterback Charlie Reeve of Frisco, Tex., who went on to earn All-American honors, put on a record-setting passing performance, completing 25 of 44 passes — both all-time Wildcat marks — for 262 yards and three touchdowns. Add another 119 yards by Forrest, Reeve’s back up who connected on five of six passes and two TDs late in the game and the Wildcats finish with 381 passing yards — the third-highest total in PRCC history. In early November 2002, the Bulldogs handed the Wildcats a heartbreaking 3-0 loss in Dobie Holden Stadium in the first round of the MACJC football playoffs, casting a shadow on Pearl River’s first trip to the playoffs in a decade. Holmes went on to win all the marbles that year and they have yet to make it into the post season since. On the other hand, PRCC took the shutout in stride and rebounded the following fall by kicking off a string of four straight MACJC championships, including an NJCAA national title in 2004. The Wildcats played for the 2006 national championship last December in the Pilgrim’s Pride Bowl in Mt. Pleasant, Tex., but were defeated by Blinn (Tex.) 19-6. Last Week Around The MACJC In other South Division action last week, unbeaten and third-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast (5-0, 3-0) clobbered Copiah-Lincoln (1-4, 1-2) 37-3 in Wesson and undefeated and fifth-ranked Jones County (5-0, 2-0) outscored Hinds (3-2, 0-2) 56-41 in Ellisville. In North Division action, Northwest Mississippi (4-1, 3-0) trimmed East Mississippi (1-4, 1-2) 14-0 in Senatobia, Coahoma (2-3, 2-1) squeaked by winless Holmes (0-5, 0-3) 20-17 in Goodman, and Itawamba (4-1, 2-0) defeated winless This Week In The MACJC Elsewhere this week in the MACJC North Division, Coahoma hosts Northwest Mississippi in Wildcats Over The Airwaves All Pearl River games are broadcast live on WMXI-FM (98.1) in n |