Friday, October 23, 2009

Wildcats trim Warriors 30-27 in OT to wrap season at 6-3, 3-3
East Central tops River in total offense 504-256, but finishes season winless in South Division play

      DECATUR — Pearl River’s Wildcats wrapped up their season of unachieved high expectations here Thursday with a 30-27 MACJC South Division overtime victory over scrappy East Central.
      PRCC finished the year at 6-3 overall and 3-3 in division play, while ECCC ended its season at 2-7 and winless at 0-6 in the division.
      “I’m sure they (East Central) feel they lost one that they should’ve won,” said eighth-year Wildcat head coach Tim Hatten. “Looking at it on paper, they blew us away, but it’s the final score on the scoreboard that counts.
      “We’re just pleased to finish the year with a win.”
      Place kicker Travis Bradley of Pascagoula High booted a 37-yard field goal in overtime for the win.
      The host Warriors entered the final quarter trailing 24-13, but place kicker Chad Mangum started the comeback effort to tie it up with a 22-yard field goal — his third of four on the night — with 10:17 left before Bradley answered seven minutes later to boost the Wildcats’ lead back to 11.
      With 2:40 remaining, ECCC quarterback Emmanuel Taylor connected with wide receiver Antonio Ricks with a 41-yard scoring pass and a two-point conversion throw to cut PRCC’s lead to three before Mangum’s 32-yard field goal at the final buzzer knotted it up at 27-27 and pushed things into OT.
      “We played horribly on both sides of the ball and were very fortunate to pull this one out,” Hatten added.
      On the first three possessions of the game Pearl River was held on downs twice (at the Warrior 30 and 26-yard lines), while East Central was stopped on a fourth and two at the Wildcat 17 on its only possession of the opening quarter.
      But the Warriors quickly cranked it up. After PRCC quarterback Emil Jones of North Forrest threw incomplete on a fourth and six on the first snap of the second period at the East Central 26, Warrior running back Dontice Sanders took control with five straight carries for a combined 41 yards to move things to the Wildcat 35, then Taylor’s 25-yard completion to Radarius Owens pushed ECCC to the 18. After a Pearl River offsides penalty, Taylor hit Fabian Johnson with a 13-yard scoring pass. Mangum’s PAT made it 7-0 with
10:19 left in the first half.
      Desmond Ratliff of Canton returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards to the midfield stripe and the Wildcats moved to the Warrior seven in 10 snaps before Jones was picked off in the end zone by C.J. Estelle.
      The Warriors answered with a 10-play, 72-yard drive before Sanders was pounded by Scardino Daniels of East Marion High, forcing a fumble at the Wildcat eight and linebacker Reggie Bailey of Picayune High picked up the miscue and returned it the distance.
      Bradley’s extra point tied it up at 7-7 with 1:03 left in the half.
      East Central managed to drive to the Pearl River 22 in the last four snaps of the period, but Mangum’s 43-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Otha Foster of Columbia as the halftime gun sounded.
      Mangum redeemed himself on the opening possession of the second half when he booted a 23-yard three-pointer to regain the lead for the Warriors at 10-7. Taylor’s 64-yard completion to Antonio Hughes to the Pearl River one-yard line on the first snap of the third period highlighted the series. A delay penalty on first down moved things back to the six before two straight runs when for zero yards and Taylor threw incomplete on a third and six.
      After an exchange of punts, Bradley knotted it up with a 27-yard boot, capping an eight-play, 39-yard drive in which Jones was three of five for 47 yards, including 23 and 17-yard completions to Darnell Jackson of Houston, Tex.
      After Bradley hammered the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone, Taylor was intercepted by Foster three snaps later at the ECCC 41 and a Warrior personal foul penalty on the play put The River in business at the 26. Jones hit Ratliff back-to-back completions with the last good for a 15-yard touchdown. Bradley PAT made it 17-10 with 4:06 left in the third quarter.
      East Central answered with a seven-play, 55-yard drive to the Wildcat 13 where Mangum arrived to boot a 31-yard field goal to cut PRCC’s lead to four with nine seconds left in the third. The big play of the series was a 48-yard Taylor-to-Jeremy Harvey pass play.
      After Richard returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards to midfield in the final seconds of the third, it was less than a minute into the final period when Jones hit Ratliff with a 33-yard scoring pass with Bradley’s extra point rebuilding the Wildcats’ lead to 11.
      Pearl River’s “sky kickoff” that was returned five yards to midfield, the Warriors drove to the Wildcat five in 12 plays where Mangum’s 22-yard field goal made it 24-16 with 10:17 left.
      After Ratliff returned the ensuing kickoff 30 yards to his own 40, the Wildcats went to its time-consuming ground game seven of the next eight plays. Jones’ second and 13 completion to Sam Robinson of Sebring, Fla., drew a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Warriors that moved things to the 18. Five snaps later, Bradley dittoed Mangum with a 22-yard three pointer to make it 27-16 with 3:37 remaining in regulation.
      The Warriors’ next possession started at their own 30 after a Estelle 25-yard kickoff return and Taylor hit Johnson with an 18-yard completion to convert a second and 10, then a play later a 15-yard Wildcat penalty pushed things to the PRCC 41 where Antonio Ricks caught Taylor’s 41-yard touchdown pass followed by Mangum’s PAT.
      After Pearl River answered with a three and out, Ryan Knight of Sumrall High booted a 36-yard unreturned punt to the Warrior 44 where Taylor converted a fourth and 10 with a 12-yard completion to Estelle, then Sanders had a 29-yard catch a play later to the PRCC 10. Taylor threw two straight incompletions before Mangum arrived to boot the game-tying 32-yard field goal as time expired in regulation.
      Bradley kicked the game winner four plays into PRCC’s overtime possession, while Taylor was sacked for a combined minus-13 on the Warriors first two snaps before finding Johnson with a 22-yard completion. Taylor threw incomplete on fourth and one to seal the Wildcats’ win.
      East Central held a 23-21 edge in first downs and generated 504 yards of total offense (393 pass, 111 rush) to Pearl River’s season-low 256 (184 pass, 72 rush).
      Ratliff led Wildcat receivers with eight catches for 93 yards, finishing the nine-game season with 1,055 receiving yards — just 62 yards shy of Larry Brackins’ record 1,117 yards set in 2004's 12-game state and national championship season.
      Ratliff’s 85 receptions on the year bests Brackins’ previous record of 55 catches, also set in 2004. Add his 40 receptions from 2008 and Ratliff holds the Wildcats’ career mark with 125.
      Jackson had three catches for 53 yards, while Serggio Judkins of Ocala, Fla., had one for 17, Kyle Kirk of Forrest County AHS one for 11, and Robinson one for eight.
      Harvey led all receivers in the contest with seven catches for 102 yards, while Hughes had two for 75, Johnson five for 74, Owens two for 50, Ricks one for 41, Sanders one for 29, and Demarcus Bryant one for 22.
      Sanders also ran for a game-high 116 yards on 21 carries.
      East Central was penalized 17 times for a whopping 137 yards, while Pearl River drew nine flags for 100.