PERKINSTON, Miss. — The Wildcats played a quality first half defensively but it was not enough as they lost to archrival Gulf Coast 25-3 Thursday night at A.L. May Memorial Stadium in Perkinston.
The Pearl River (2-6 overall, 1-4 MACJC South) defense allowed an early score in the first quarter when Gulf Coast (8-0, 5-0) connected on a 43-yard touchdown pass but Pearl River's Darrell Luter (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) blocked the PAT to keep the Perk lead at 6-0.
Besides giving up the first half touchdown the Wildcat defense put in a dominant first half, stopping three fourth down attempts by the Bulldogs.
The first came on the Bulldogs' opening drive when on 4th-and-12 Gulf Coast's quarterback tried to scramble but was tackled short of the line by Kobe Cole (Flora; Madison Central).
The second came with a red zone interception by Nijewel Coleman (Sumrall), who ran the ball out to the Wildcat 19 yard line.
The third fourth-down stop came in the second quarter at the PRCC 11 yard line when Coleman and Noah Mitchell (Leakesville; Greene County) stuffed the Bulldog running back on 4th-and-1 to give the Wildcats the ball back.
The Wildcats stopped Gulf Coast in the third quarter on a fake punt that was muffed and recovered by Snow.
The field position allowed kicker Gayden Hence (Hattiesburg) to drill a 40-yard field goal to put the Wildcats on the board, 6-3.
Gulf Coast responded with a furious response in the third quarter, scoring 19 unanswered points. The first MGCC second-half score came on a 66-yard touchdown run.
Gulf Coast tacked onto its lead with a pick-six to go up 19-3.
The Bulldogs' scored the final touchdown of the night on a quarterback run in the red zone.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Terrence Humphrey (Clarksdale) led the Wildcats in passing with 59 yards. Dymarcus Griffin (Richton) led the Wildcats with 25 yards rushing. Latreal Jones (Taylorsville) led the Wildcats in receiving yards with 67. Mitchell led the Wildcats defensively with 18 tackles.
Darrell Sims Jr. (Bassfield; Jefferson Davis) also had a sack, as did Radonte Womack (Prentiss; Jefferson Davis).
NEXT UP
Pearl River will close out the 2019 season next Thursday with a 6 p.m. home kickoff against Mississippi Delta. General admission at Dobie Holden Stadium will be free.
HOW TO TUNE IN
All home events are broadcast on PRCCAthletics.com and PRCCMedia.com. Anyone who has an Amazon Fire or Roku device can stream PRCC broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" Channel from the app store.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
