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SPORTS INFORMATION Oct. 13, 2007 77th-annual ’Cat Fight battle pits NJCAA’s No. 5 vs. No. 6 Four-time defending state champ Pearl River out to hand unbeaten, fifth-ranked Jones its first loss By: Mitch Deaver POPLARVILLE — One of the most storied rivalries in all of junior college football will hit the gridiron for the 77th time here Saturday when four-time defending MACJC champion and sixth-ranked Pearl River hosts unbeaten and fifth-ranked Jones County in a crucial MACJC South Division football battle to climax the Wildcats’ 2007 Homecoming. PRCC, 5-1 overall and 2-1 in South Division play, enters the 3 p.m. battle off last week’s 29-14 home victory over winless non-division rival Holmes (0-6); while the Bobcats, 6-0 and 3-0, kept their unbeaten streak alive via a last-minute 25-19 win over Southwest Mississippi in Ellisville, PRCC struggled offensively last week against Holmes, generating a meager 212 yards of total offense (108 rush, 104 pass) to the Bulldogs’ 236 (59 rush, 193 pass). Sixth-year Wildcat head coach “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 in the first half and dropped way too many passes and made way too many bad throws. “We can’t do that against Jones,” he continued. “Coach (Eddie) Pierce has put together one of the best defenses around. They (Jones) don’t give you any thing.” A year ago in Ellisville, the Wildcats trailed the Bobcats 24-13 with under five minutes left, but rallied back with 15 unanswered points to hand their previously-undefeated hosts a heartbreaking 28-24 setback. Wide receiver Demetrius Byrd, now an LSU Tiger, snagged a 21-yard touchdown pass from Carlton Hill with 56 seconds left to ice the hard-fought victory. Hill, who now plays for the South Florida Bulls, entered the game under center to kick off the second half after playing wide receiver in PRCC’s previous six-and-a-half outings. Hill put on a stunning fourth-quarter show that wowed the capacity crowd witnessing the slugfest played on Sim Cooley Field. The Bobcats seemingly never recovered from the shocking defeat as they managed to score a meager six points in their last two games and closed out the remainder of their season with back-to-back losses to Mississippi Gulf Coast (24-3) and Copiah-Lincoln (16-3). Offensively, Jones is ranked fourth in the league in total offense, generating an average of 345.1 yards (163 pass: seventh, 182.1 rush: fifth) a game, while Pearl River’s offense has sputtered through six games and is ranked third from the last at 284.8 yards (187.3 pass: third, 97.5 rush: 12th) an outing. On the defensive side, Pearl River gives up an average of 227.7 yards a game — second only to Mississippi Gulf Coast’s 175.2-yard mark in the entire league. Jones, on the other hand, is ranked ninth in the league at 298.2 yards an outing. The Wildcats tops all comers in pass defense, leading the way in yardage and interceptions with 99.2 and 14 picks and are seventh in rush defense at 121.5. The Bobcats are next to the last against the pass at 176.7 and sixth against the run at 113 yards a game. JCJC is tied with third-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast in turnover margin with a plus-eight, while PRCC is second with a plus-seven. Sophomore Jasper Ducksworth leads the Bobcat rushing attack, averaging 84.6 yards a game and has scored a league-best 12 TDs (78 points). Pearl River running back Bubba Kirksey leads the Wildcats with 59 yards a game and five scores, including two in last week’s win over Holmes. Roger Frazier of Lakeland, Fla., leads the PRCC receiving corps with 443 yards (second in the league) on 26 catches (fourth in the league), while the sophomore Hutchinson (Kan.) CC transfer has second-best numbers in average punt and kickoff return average yardage with 12 (punt) and 35 (kick off). Wildcat Phillip Sullivan of Meridian continues to lead the MACJC in punting, averaging 44.6 yards on 29 kicks, while Bobcat Tyler Caldwell is sixth in the league with a 37.9-yard average on 35 boots. Caldwell, a freshman from Laurel, is also JCJC’s placekicker and has accounted for 25 points this season (16 of 22 PATs, three of five FGs), while preseason All-American Brad Bingham of Moss Point paces the Wildcats with 32 points (20 of 22 PATs, four of seven FGs). Bingham is tied for fourth in the state in scoring by kickers, while Caldwell is tied for seventh. The ’Cat Fight Rivalry... Pearl River leads its JCJC series with 39 wins versus 35 losses (two tied) following last year’s come-from-behind victory that spoiled the Bobcats’ Homecoming celebration. In 2005, the Wildcats took a hard-fought 28-18 victory in Ellisville a year after their lopsided 52-10 Homecoming romp in Poplarville in PRCC’s state and national championship season. PRCC won 35-21 in 2003. The storied rivalry cranked up back in 1934 with Jones winning the inaugural meeting 33-0 and from 1937 until 1944, Jones won six straight, including a unique 3-2 victory in 1938. Legendary PRCC coach Dobie Holden compiled a 13-7-1 record against Jones in his 21 years at the Wildcat helm, including a 12-12 deadlock in 1946 in his first game at The River. Holden’s successor, John Russell, was 5-2 against the Bobcats in seven years, while his successor, J.C. Arban, was 3-7-1. Mike Nelson followed Arban and was 2-2 in the late 1980s, while Willie Coats was 3-2 and Keith Daniels 2-4 in the 1990s. In 2000, the Bobcats were 37-21 victors in Daniels’ last game as Wildcat coach. Daniels died the following day of a brain hemorrhage. The preceding season, Daniels led Pearl River to one of the most stunning upsets in history when the Wildcats trimmed then-defending state and national champion Jones 20-15 in Ellisville. Scott Maxfield, Daniels’ successor who left after the 2001 season to take the head job at Blinn College in Brenham, Tex., lost 24-14 in his only game against the Bobcats. Hatten, Maxfield’s successor, has yet to lose to Dykes, winning 44-17 in 2002, 35-21 in 2003, and last year’s blowout. There have been two ties in the history of the rivalry. Pearl River has won an unprecedented 19 state championships, including state and national titles in 1961 and 2004. Jones has won 12 state titles.. Elsewhere around the MACJC In other South Division action Thursday, unbeaten and third-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast (6-0, 4-0) defeated East Central (2-4, 0-4) 41-24 in Perkinston, fifth-ranked Jones County (6-0, 3-0) remained undefeated with a last-minute 25-19 win over Southwest Mississippi (2-4, 0-4) in Ellisville, and Hinds (4-2, 1-2) shut out Copiah-Lincoln (1-4, 1-3) 37-0 in Raymond. In North Division action, Northwest Mississippi (5-1, 4-0) smacked Coahoma (2-4, 2-2) 24-14 in This week in the MACJC This week’s Thursday games in the MACJC North Division include Itawamba hosting winless Holmes in Fulton and winless Northeast Mississippi hosting Mississippi Delta for its Homecoming in Booneville, while one Saturday game is set with Wildcats Over The Airwaves All Pearl River games are broadcast live on WMXI-FM (98.1) in |