POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River football team made strides in the passing game Thursday night against No. 3 Northwest inside Dobie Holden Stadium, but it wasn't enough to get by the Rangers, falling 42-17.
Reese Mooney (Clinton; Denham Springs) and Kedrick Triplett (Florence, Ala.) connected eight times throughout the night for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"We got whipped up front. We had no success running the football. We were putting our offense into predictable situations with our lack of running success," head coach Seth Smith said. "Northwest is really good — they're significantly better. The most growth a team should show is from week one to week two, and we're going to go to work."
The game looked like it had the makings of a shootout after the opening two drives of the night between Pearl River (0-1 overall) and Northwest (1-0). It took nine plays for Pearl River to move the ball down the field and cash in for the first time. The first big gain of the opening drive was a 16-yard connection between Mooney (Clinton; Denham Springs) and Donovan McGowan (Mandeville, La.). Three plays later, Moony found Henry Lee Jr. (Kenner, La.; East Jefferson) for a 17-yard gain. The drive was finally capped off by a Triplett (Florence, Ala.) touchdown. The receiver ran a drag route, caught a pass, bounced outside, and headed up the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown, 7-0.
The Rangers countered nine plays later, scoring on an 11-yard rushing touchdown to even up the score, 7-7. Pearl River went right back ahead on the ensuing drive, working the ball down to the NWCC 1-yard line. The drive eventually stalled out, and Morgan Craft (Picayune) nailed a 22-yard field goal, 10-7.
Northwest needed just 2:11 on the following to score on a 26-yard touchdown pass and take a 14-10 lead over the Wildcats. The Rangers lead swelled to 21-10 with 13 minutes left in the second quarter, and they took a 28-10 lead with 57 seconds left in the second.
The Wildcats forced a turnover early in the third quarter as Tradarius Smith (Port Gibson) plucked a high lofted pass out of the air to end a Ranger drive. PRCC went on to put a stop to the next two NWCC drives, but couldn't get the ball moving on offense.
By the 9:06 mark in the fourth, Pearl River trailed Northwest 42-10. The Wildcats got back on the board with 6:47 left in the fourth. Mooney connected with Triplett three times on the drive to move the ball to the NWCC 24-yard line. Following an incompletion, Mooney found Triplett again, and the receiver took the ball 24 yards for his second touchdown of the night, 42-17.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Mooney finished 23-for-37 for 291 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Triplett caught eight passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, making him the first Wildcat to eclipse 100 yards receiving since Antonio Gayden on October 22, 2022.
Howard Kinchen (Lafayette, La.; Patterson) caught six passes for 69 yards, and McGowan hauled in five for 64.
Amarion Tyson (Picayune) finished the night with 13 tackles and one sack. Garrett Orgas (Vicksburg; Warren Central) also had double-digit tackles, tallying 10 and one tackle for loss.
NEXT UP
Pearl River remains at Dobie Holden Stadium next Thursday for a 7 p.m. clash with North Division foe Itawamba.
TICKETS
Tickets are available now at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets. Tickets purchased in advance are $10 and tickets purchased on gameday are $13. Chairback tickets are available for $20 and go up to $23 on gameday.
HOW TO WATCH
The Wildcats livestream all games for FREE at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
All games will also be available at WRJWRadio.com.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
