Pearl River began as an agricultural high school in 1909 and as a junior college in 1921. It officially became the first public two-year institution of higher learning in Mississippi and the sixteenth in the nation. Soon after its founding, PRCC began successful competition in athletics...first on the high school level and later as a junior college. During the early years, Pearl River was the first junior college in Mississippi to compete in athletics. That's why the first years of competition were against such foes as Mississippi College, Louisiana University (now LSU), State Teachers College (now the University of Southern Mississippi), and Tulane University.

Thousands of Pearl River graduates have excelled in every line of endeavor and in doing so have left a legacy of unprecedented accomplishments. In 1921, PRCC compiled a 8-1-0 record with scores being tabulated against them in the last (state championship) game (7-7), and over the next three years, the Wildcats were undefeated at 23-0.

In 1925, Perkinston, Hinds, and more familiar names started appearing on the schedule. Pearl River College won three consecutive state championships from 1925-27, kicking off a winning tradition that has never ended.

 

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Consider these facts about Wildcat football:

• In 1914, PRCAHS football, predecessor to Wildcat football, played an unequaled season in football, winning against their opponents and allowing none of them to score.  This included Mississippi Normal College in Hattiesburg (now USM)  The final game, against Harrison County AHS (now MGCCC), was easily won, 51-0.
• In the 1921 season, PRCAHS football placed another record-making year in the history books beginning with a 31-0 win over Jones County AHS (now JCJC), 68-0 over Bogalusa, Gulf Coast Military Academy (then a high school and college) 7-0, Jones County AHS (a second game) 91-0, Mississippi Normal College (USM) 40-0, and the march continued.  At the end of the regular season with a South Mississippi championship under their belts (42-0 win over Pike County AHS), the local paper, the Free Press, summed up the season to that point:  “In eight games played, the local eleven has piled up a total score of 278 points, while they have kept their goal line clear the entire season.”  In the state championship game, the team met Okolona, the north Mississippi champs on their opponents' turf.  The game stood 7-7 (the only team that had crossed PRC's goal line in the season) at the end of the first quarter and remained there for the following three quarters, ending in a tie.  The team had scored 285 points while allowing only 7.
• Two former Wildcat coaches—Edwin (Goat) Hale and Dobie Holden—were American football legends in their own right. Holden's 1961 Wildcats recorded a perfect 10-0 season and won the state and national junior college championships.
• The 1942 season was canceled after four games and there was no football played in the state in 1943 due to World War II.Wildcat football has taken 17 state championships—more than any other MACJC team.
• In 1980, Junior College Gridwire ranked PRCC as the fourth best team over the past 20 years.
• In 2003-2004 The Wildcats made junior college history when they swept the four major men's sports in the state championship races.  That year they won state championships in men's soccer, football, basketball, and baseball.

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Pearl River is known for its competitive spirit in all sports, regardless of whether the sport is football, men's or women's basketball, baseball, women's softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, or golf.

Pearl River Community College athletes have excelled in all areas of achievement. Heading into the 21st century, The River's winning tradition is as vibrant and alive as it has been throughout its long and colorful history.