The Pearl River football team pushed rival and fourth-ranked Gulf Coast to the brink Thursday night, holding the lead for nearly 30 minutes before the Bulldogs rallied back to claim a 42-28 win.
"No one gave us a chance tonight but us," head coach Seth Smith said. "The goal was to go into halftime with a chance and to get into the fourth with a chance — and we did both. Our pass defense and those two turnovers just hurt us."
Gulf Coast (5-0 overall; 3-0 MACCC South) opened the scoring on its second possession, moving into PRCC territory before being forced to settle for a 34-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats (1-4; 0-3) quickly answered. Keenan Franks (State Line; Greene County) was the driving force of a 6-play, 75-yard drive, piling up 59 yards, including a 41-yard sprint up the middle. A few plays later, Austin Jones (Beaumont; Perry Central) found Howard Kinchen (Lafayette, La.; Patterson) on a perfectly placed throw over the shoulder of the defender. Kinchen stretched out to haul in the touchdown, and Morgan Craft's (Picayune) extra point made it 7-3.
The defense followed with a six-play stop to force a punt, and PRCC's offense went back to work. Starting late in the first quarter, the Wildcats strung together a 9-play, 55-yard march that ate 4:44 of clock. Franks finished the drive with a bruising run through the middle of the line to put PRCC up 14-3.
The Bulldogs quickly struck back with a 44-yard touchdown pass to cut it to 14-10, then added a 23-yard field goal to make it 14-13 with 3:38 left in the half.
Pearl River wasn't done, though. Behind Franks, Jones, and Moses Cummings (Purvis), the Wildcats pounded the ball on the ground, covering 65 yards almost entirely by rushing. The drive ended in similar fashion to the first touchdown of the night as Jones lofted another fade to Kinchen for a highlight-reel score, extending the lead to 21-13.
From there, momentum swung sharply. Gulf Coast rattled off 29 unanswered points to storm ahead 42-21.
PRCC still showed fight, putting together a 6-play, 89-yard drive late in the fourth. Jones hit Kedrick Triplett (Florence, Ala.) for a big gain to the 1-yard line, where Cummings powered across for the final score, 42-28. The Bulldogs then drained the clock to close out the game.
LEADING THE WAY
Jones finished 4-of-10 for 35 yards and two touchdowns.
Franks turned in another dominant effort, rushing 31 times for 181 yards and a score. It marked his fourth straight 100-yard game. Cummings added 40 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
Triplett paced the receivers with two catches for 36 yards, while Kinchen turned both of his grabs into touchdowns, totaling 33 yards.
Defensively, Jeffery Hopgood (Kiln; Hancock) posted 10 tackles and a tackle for loss. Daniel Pickens (Gautier; Resurrection) and Lejon Williams (Pensacola, Fla.; Escambia) tallied eight stops apiece, and Jalen Anderson (Slidell, La.) contributed four tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats have a bye week before traveling to Copiah-Lincoln on Oct. 9. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
TUNE IN
All Pearl River football games are livestreamed free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV can also watch by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel.
Games will also air locally on WRJW 1320-AM, 106.9 FM, and WRJWRadio.com.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
