DECATUR, Miss. — East Central capitalized on turnovers early Thursday night to topple visiting Pearl River 35-0 at Bailey Stadium.
The shutout was PRCC's first since Sept. 13, 2018.
"We have to work on the little things and protect the football," Pearl River coach Ted Egger said. "We can't give away the football two times early to go down 14-0 regardless of who we play."
SCORING RECAP
Pearl River (1-3 MACJC, 0-2 South) fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter due to two fumbles and a 56-yard third-down touchdown strike by the Warriors (3-1, 2-0).
The Wildcat defense clamped down in the second quarter. In addition to forcing two punts following three-and-out possessions, Ronald Baker (Prentiss; Jefferson Davis) hijacked a quick pass by the Warriors near the line of scrimmage for his first interception of the season.
The Warriors tacked on two more scores in the second half. ECCC scored on an 11-yard pass with 3:07 remaining in the third and then jumped on a wayward long snap in PRCC's end zone with 10:31 remaining in the contest to push its lead to 35-0.
The Wildcat defense came up with one more big play in the fourth. Kobe Cole (Madison; Madison Central) stepped up and laid a hard tackle on a Warrior ball carrier at the line of scrimmage midway through the fourth quarter. Baker, who's committed to South Alabama, jumped on the loose ball for his second turnover of the contest.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Jakob Greer (Waveland; St. Stanislaus) completed 8 of 14 passes for 97 yards with one interception.
Lance Stewart (Oxford; Lafayette County) led PRCC on the ground, rushing 23 times for 84 yards. T.J. Wash (Forest; Scott Central) added 47 yards and nine carries.
Cole led PRCC with nine total tackles. Ricco Moore (Moss Point; St. Martin) and Noah Mitchell (Leakesville; Greene County) added six apiece.
Gayden Hence (Hattiesburg) averaged 38.8 yards on five punts.
NEXT
Pearl River returns home Thursday for a 6 p.m. kickoff against No. 19 Hinds.
TICKETS
General admission is free for all home games for the rest of the 2019 season. Individual chairback seats and season passes will be available at will call.
PRCC FOOTBALL BROADCASTS
Individuals who have an Amazon Fire Stick or Roku device can also stream PRCC broadcast by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from the app store. All football games are streamed on PRCCAthletics.com and PRCCMedia.com.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
