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SPORTS INFORMATION Oct. 30, 2007 Wildcats wrap season with 39-31 triple OT victory over Hinds Four-time defending state champ PRCC finishes 2007 6-3 overall, 3-3 in division By: Mitch Deaver POPLARVILLE — Four-time defending MACJC champion Pearl River wrapped up its 2007 football season with a 39-31 triple-overtime triumph over South Division rival Hinds here Thursday. The Wildcats, who entered the season ranked first in the NJCAA’s preseason poll for the third straight year, finished at 6-3 overall and 3-3 in division play, while Hinds wrapped at 5-4 and 2-4. The 2007 season marked the first time that PRCC — state champions in 2003 through 2006 and NJCAA national champs in 2004 — missed out on the post season playoffs since 2001. Wildcat head coach “It wasn’t pretty, but we did what we had to do to come out with a win,” he said. “That always makes you happy.” The Wildcats finished the game with 229 yards of total offense, including a season-high 213 yards on the ground. “It seems like our passing game (a mere 16 yards against Hinds) has been an exercise in futility all season long and we just went out and played some heavy power I football,” Hatten explained. “Looking back, we probably should’ve done that a lot earlier in the year, but that’s what it took for us to pull out the win. Our guys got out there and pushed people around on both sides of the ball.” Hinds went up 10-0 in the first quarter off a 30-yard field goal by Parker Ware at the 7:46 mark and Steven Knight TD run in the final seconds of the period. It took only two snaps for the Eagles to pad their lead on their final possession of the period. Quarterback Terrence Barnes hit Carlos Everett with a 43-yard completion on a first and 10 at the Wildcat 44 to set up Knight’s score, then Ware’s PAT made it 10-0 with 11 seconds left in the quarter. Two series later, PRCC finally got on the scoreboard when Ware’s modest 28-yard punt from the end zone put the Wildcats in business at the Eagle 38. After a five-yard run by Bubba Kirksey of Hattiesburg High, back-to-back Wildcat penalties pushed things back to the 48 where Lance Cuevas of St. Stanislaus zipped a 15-yard completion to O.J. Murdock of Tampa, Fla., on a third and 20. Then Brad Bingham of Six plays into the Eagles’ ensuing possession, Frank Newsome III of Petal intercepted a Barnes pass and returned it 20 yards to his own 31. After Kirksey ran for nine yards on back-to-back carries, in comes Tim Rawlinson of Prattville, Ala. — a starting linebacker by trade — who took over the Wildcat ground game with 54 yards on four attempts to push things to the five where Hendrick Leverette of Oak Grove — another starting linebacker by trade — ran it in for the score. Bingham’s PAT tied it up at 10-10 with 4:27 left before the intermission. Barnes hit Chris Lewis with a four-yard completion at the PRCC 44 six plays into Hinds’ ensuing possession, but Lewis coughed up the ball and the Wildcats recovered. Rawlinson ran three times for 12 yards, then Cuevas threw incomplete; setting the stage for Bingham’s 46-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide took over for one snap as the halftime gun sounded. Hinds regained the lead on its first possession of the second half, marching 45 yards in nine plays with Knight running it in from the two. Barnes hit Vernon Wolfe for an 18-yard completion to convert a second and 19 at the Wildcat 28 to set up Knight’s scoring run. Ware’s extra point made it 17-10 with 9:01 left in the third period. Three series later, Knight fumbled at his own 23 for a minus-22 yards and Leverette recovered at the one where Aaron “Eight Ball” Williams of Ridgeland — a nose tackle by trade — pushed his 285-pound frame into the end zone a play later. Bingham’s extra point tied it up at 17-17 with 3:51 left in the quarter. Pearl River recovered a fumbled pass reception at the Wildcat 44 three snaps into the Eagles’ ensuing possession, but it took only three PRCC plays for Darrius Jones to pick off Cuevas for the Wildcats’ only interception of the night. Jones returned his pick 35 yards to the PRCC 20 where Knight ran four straight times for 15 yards to the five and Barnes kept on a third and five for the touchdown on the second play of the final period. Ware’s PAT made it 24-17 with 14:16 left. Two plays into Hinds’ next possession, Craig Marshall of Three series later, Josh Wiley of Hattiesburg High intercepted Barnes at midfield and returned his pick 17 yards to the Eagle 33 where Bingham was a foot short on a 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:23 left. In the first overtime, Bowden scored from the 25 on a second and 10 and Bingham converted, while Hinds answered with a one-yard Knight TD and a Ware PAT. The Eagles had first dibs on the ensuing OT possession where Barnes immediately threw three straight incompletions and Ware muffed a 42-yard field goal attempt only to get redemption via a roughing the kicker penalty. Four plays later, Terrence Handy of Jackson Provine blocked Ware’s second attempt, then Bingham was wide on a 39-yard field goal attempt on the Wildcats possession to send things into a third overtime. Bowden got the call on three straight snaps for 16 yards on PRCC’s ensuing series to push things to the nine where Kirksey ran for two, then seven for the go-ahead TD. Kirksey also ran for the two-point conversion to make it 39-31. A Hinds answer wasn’t to be. Barnes hit Anthony Mayes with a 13-yard pass on a second and nine to the nine, then Knight and Barnes two-yard runs pushed things to the five where Barnes was intercepted by Marshall on a fourth and five to end the game. The Eagles finished the game with 15 first downs to the Wildcats’ 13, while generating 290 yards of total offense (116 rush, 174 pass). Knight led all rushers in the contest with 99 yards on 35 carries, while Rawlinson led PRCC with 88 on 14 and Bowden had 74 on 20. Barnes completed 17 of 36 throws (three interceptions) for all of Hinds’ aerial yardage. Mayes led the way with six catches for 39 yards, while Wolfe had four for a game-high 59 yards. Wildcat Phillip Sullivan punted nine times for a 36.5-yard average, while Ware had six boots for 37.5. PRCC was penalized 10 times for 110 yards, while HCC drew four flags for 45. Elsewhere around the MACJC In other regular-season-ending action around the MACJC, Holmes (1-8, 1-6) avoided a winless season with a 13-0 victory over Northeast Mississippi (2-7, 2-4) in Booneville, North Division runner up Northwest Mississippi (6-3, 5-1) bombed Mississippi Delta (3-6, 2-4) in Moorhead, South runner up and eighth-ranked Jones County (8-1, 5-1) shut out Copiah-Lincoln (3-6, 2-4) 13-0 in Wesson, and East Central (3-6, 0-6) defeated Coahoma (2-7, 2-4) 32-21 in Decatur. Two Saturday Homecoming games remain before the state playoffs, including South champ and third-ranked
MACJC playoffs start Nov. 3 Saturday, Nov. 3's first round of the MACJC playoffs will see Northwest Mississippi at n |