Friday, October 4, 2002
Wildcats win third straight with 31-22 decision over nationally-ranked Hinds
Pearl River improves to 3-1 overall, 2-0 in South Division with victory; Cannon rushes and catches for 191 total yards

     RAYMOND   Pearl River Community College's Wildcats pushed perennial
football power Hinds out of the national spotlight here Saturday, handing the No. 7-
ranked and previously unbeaten Eagles a 31-22 setback to improve to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in South Division play.
     Hinds' homecoming battle was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was
postponed until Saturday due to Tropical Storm Isidore's wet sweep through the
southeastern United States.
     Wildcat running back Kris Cannon of St. Stanislaus played a huge role in the
victory   the third straight for the Wildcats   as the sophomore smashed the Eagle
defense for 191 all-purpose yards, including a career-high rushing total of 133 yards
on 13 carries and four pass receptions for 58 yards.
     But it was the Pearl River defensive unit that spelled the biggest difference. Five
different Wildcats   sophomore defensive backs Jason Santiago of St. Stanislaus, Will
Taylor of Water Valley, and Carlos Foster and Nehemiah Taylor, both of Hattiesburg
High; and freshman linebacker Quincy Hicks of Moss Point   intercepted passes off
Hinds' quarterback Terrance Matthews. PRCC's leading tackler Glentrelle Ware, a
freshman linebacker from Monroe, La.; recovered the game's only fumble.
     Pearl River finished the afternoon with a season-high 404 yards of total offense,
including 239 through the air and 165 on the ground. Hinds, on the other hand, struggled with its running game, managing only 63 yards, while Matthews passed for 330 for the Eagles' 393 total yardage mark.
     On the game's opening possession, Hinds drove to the Wildcat 38 in only seven
plays, but the drive stalled and the Eagles punted into the end zone. On the Wildcats'
first snap, Cannon burst for five yards, then, on second down, he ran right and eventually emerged from a mass of defenders to speed 75 yards to the end zone for the score.
     "I went wide right, then they (Eagles) converged on me. In all the confusion, I
realized that I was laying on top of Murdock (offensive lineman Brett) and my knee never touched the ground and the whistle hadn't blown. I just rolled off of him and kept on running down field," Cannon said.
     Greg Bryant of Poplarville booted the extra point to put PRCC up 7-0 with 11:13
left in the first.
      PRCC's ensuing kickoff sailed out of bounds and Hinds, starting at its own 30,
answered with an eight-play, 33-yard drive to the Wildcat 32 before Matthews threw
incomplete on fourth down and Pearl River took over on downs. Three plays later,
Cannon snagged a Daniel Forrest pass for 19, then ran for another 24 to push things
to the Hinds 23. Four plays later, Forrest was intercepted by Narada Taylor at the four and the Hinds defensive back returned the pick 15 yards to the 19 with just over three
minutes left in the first.
     Matthews ended the quarter by connecting with wide receiver Seneca Chambers
for 22 yards to midfield, then went five-for-five to open the second period with Chambers snagging Matthews' fifth pass for 16 yards to the Wildcat 11. Two plays later, running back Mason Denham scored from the eight. Scott Zingery booted the extra point to tie it up at 7-7.
     Pearl River answered with a 10-play, 43-yard drive to the Eagle 17 where Bryant
booted his first collegiate field goal   a 34-yarder   to make it 10-7 Wildcats with 5:25
left in the half. Forrest hit Cannon for 13 yards and wide receiver Jonathan Eiland of
Hattiesburg High with throws for six and 14 yards to set up Bryant's go-ahead boot.
     Two plays into Hinds' ensuing drive, Hicks picked off Matthews at the Eagle 42,
setting the stage for Forrest's chunk to Eiland for a 14-yard TD seven snaps later. The
Wildcats converted a fourth-and-nine situation at the 32 on the play preceding Eiland's
score with Forrest hitting wide receiver Justin Herring of Pearl River Central for 18 yards.
Bryant's boot made it 17-7 PRCC with 3:05 left in the half.
     Again, Hinds answered with offensive punch. Starting at his own 18, Matthews
ran for 10 on first down, then hit Chambers with a 22-yard completion to midfield. A
15-yard personal foul penalty, followed by an offside miscue by PRCC set things up at
the Wildcat 38, but Nehemiah Taylor ended the threat with his third interception of the
season and the sophomore returned it 15 yards from inside the five to the 18 with 1:38
left in the half.
     Forrest completed passed to Cannon and Raymond Dukes of Hattiesburg High as
the half ended. 
     The third quarter spelled doom for the hosts, as the Wildcats played ball-control
and held the Eagles to a mere eight offensive plays the entire period. In the meantime,
PRCC padded its lead to 24-7 when Forrest hit Cannon with a 13-yard TD pass with 5:00 left in the period to cap a 12-play, 61-yard drive. Forrest went four-for-six in the drive with the big play coming off a 24-yard snag by wide receiver Jaron Fountain of Haines City, Fla., to convert a third-and-12 situation at the Eagle 39.
     Hinds' Royphyel Howell returned the ensuing kickoff to his own 42, then three
plays later, Denham fumbled after a 16-yard jaunt and Ware recovered at the Wildcat 36. Ten snaps later, Hinds' Ari Lewis intercepted Forrest's pass at the Eagle 29 with 24 seconds left in the third.
     Lewis' timely antics seemingly inspired the Eagle offense, as Matthews
engineered a seven-play scoring drive, capped by 38-yard touchdown pass to wide
receiver Darius Wilson with 13:35 left in the game. Brooks Crabtree booted the PAT to
cut PRCC's lead to 24-14.
     The Wildcats went three-and-out, but Will Taylor grabbed his third interception
of the year when he picked off Matthews at the 14 and returned it 12 yards to the 26.
Two plays later, Forrest pitched to wide receiver Donovan Morgan of New Orleans who
then passed to Herring for a 31-yard score. Bryant's boot made it 31-14 with 11:29
left.
     Foster's interception ended Hinds' next drive after only three plays, then the
Eagles held the Wildcats on downs eight plays into its ensuing drive when Forrest threw incomplete on a fourth-and-six at the Eagle 26.
     Hinds answered the call. Matthews moved the Eagles to his own 40 in eight
plays, then zipped a 60-yard scoring pass to Denham with 3:10 to go. The extra point try failed.
     The Eagles had one last stab, but Santiago killed the comeback effort with his
team-high fourth interception of the season at his own 20 with 2:05 left. Four snaps later, Wildcat punter Trey Lunsford of Picayune High scooted out of the end zone for an intentional safety to end the scoring.
     Forrest, a sophomore from Picayune who prepped at Faith West Academy in
Katy, Tex., completed 19 of his 35 throws (54.3 percent) for 208 yards; while Morgan completed one Herring's flea-flicker TD snag   for 31 yards. Eiland led the Wildcats with six receptions for 70 yards, followed by Cannon's effort, Herring with three for 55 yards, Fountain four for 45 yards, and Dukes three for 19 yards.
     Matthews, who led the MACJC-Region XXIII in passing efficiency leading into the
game, completed 24 of 40 (60 percent) for all of the Eagles' passing yardage and tossed five interceptions.
     Chambers paced all receivers in the contest with nine catches for 124 yards, while
Wilson caught five passed for 98 yards. Denham had three catches for 61 yards and led Eagle rushers with 62 yards on 19 carries.
     PRCC finished the afternoon with a season-high 22 first downs to Hinds 20, while
the Wildcats were penalized 10 times for 84 yards to the Eagles' six for 60.
     Lunsford punted three times for a 30.5-yard average, while Crabtree punted twice
for a 42-yard average.

Around The State...
     All MACJC-Region XXIII games were played on Saturday after being rescheduled
from Thursday due to Isidore.
     In other action, East Central picked up its first win of the year with a hard-fought
28-21 overtime decision over Mississippi Gulf Coast in Decatur, undefeated and
defending state champ Jones demolished Copiah-Lincoln 45-3 in Wesson, Southwest
bashed previously undefeated Northeast 22-2 in Summit, Coahoma won its second
straight game with an 8-0 victory over Holmes in Clarksdale, East Mississippi trimmed
Itawamba 23-13 in Fulton, and Northwest won its first game of the season with a
35-24 win over winless Mississippi Delta in Moorhead.
     Five Thursday and two Saturday games are set this week. Thursday games
include East Mississippi (2-2, 1-1) hosting Mississippi Delta (0-4, 0-2) in Scooba,
Northwest (1-3, 1-1) hosting Holmes (3-1, 1-1) in Senatobia, Pearl River (3-1, 2-0) hosting Itawamba (1-3, 1-0), and Mississippi Gulf Coast (2-2, 1-1) hosting Hinds (3-1, 1-1) in Perkinston. Saturday games include Northeast (3-1, 1-0) hosting Coahoma (2-2, 1-0) in Booneville, Copiah-Lincoln (1-3, 0-2) hosting East Central (1-3, 1-1) for its homecoming game, and Jones (4-0, 1-0) hosting Southwest (2-2, 0-1) for its homecoming game.