SCOOBA, Miss. — Thrust back into a role he hadn't played since high school, Pearl River's Kobe Pierce (Laurel) made the most of his first career start at quarterback Thursday night, leading the Wildcats on three scoring drives in a 42-27 battle with East Mississippi.
"What a gameplan from (offensive coordinator) Coach (David) Boykin and our offense," head coach Seth Smith said. "This kid (Kobe Pierce) has played receiver for two years. We put him in and our offense played phenomenal. They gave us a chance tonight.
"Defensively, we're giving up big plays all over the field. We have to figure out ways to stop the big play. We have the ability to score — just need to make stops."
East Mississippi (5-2 overall) opened fast, scoring on each of its first two possessions — going 76 yards in seven plays on the first and 49 yards in 10 plays on the second — to jump ahead 14-0.
Pearl River (1-7) answered on its next drive. Kedrick Triplett (Florence, Ala.) set the tone with a 20-yard end-around run, then hauled in a 17-yard pass from Pierce to push the Wildcats deep into Lion territory. A few plays later, Pierce delivered a pinpoint strike to the back-right corner of the end zone, where Howard Kinchen (Lafayette, La.; Patterson) made a diving grab for the touchdown. Morgan Craft (Picayune) added the extra point to make it 14-7.
The Lions responded with a 50-yard rushing score to extend their lead to 21-7, but Pierce and the Wildcats kept battling. The freshman signal caller guided his second scoring drive of the night, accounting for 51 total yards, including a 25-yard connection with Kinchen and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Triplett that cut the deficit to 21-13.
EMCC tacked on one more score before halftime to make it 28-13, then went 75 yards in 11 plays on its opening drive of the second half to push the margin to 35-13.
Pearl River clawed back within two scores late in the third quarter. With help from an 18-yard rush by Keenan Franks(State Line; Greene County) and a 12-yard reception by Henry Lee Jr. (Kenner, La.; East Jefferson), the Wildcats faced a fourth-and-two from the EMCC 9-yard line. On the next play, Kylin Champagne (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) powered through a defender and rumbled into the end zone to make it 35-20.
The Lions added two more touchdowns — one through the air and another on a pick-six — to extend their advantage to 49-20. Still, PRCC continued to fight until the final whistle. Jacobi Jefferson (Slidell, La.; Salem) broke loose for a 51-yard run and later capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown to round out the scoring at 49-27.
LEADING THE WAY
Jefferson led the team with 68 rushing yards and a score. Franks had 57 rushing yards.
Kinchen led PRCC in both catches and yards with seven and 64, respectively. He had a touchdown. Triplett had four catches for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Daniel Pickens (Gautier; Resurrection) led PRCC in tackles with nine. Garrett Orgas (Vicksburg; Warren Central) had seven tackles. Jalen Anderson (Slidell, La.) had five tackles and one tackle for loss.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats return home to host Hinds Thursday at 7 p.m. for Homecoming. Festivities for homecoming will begin with a 5:15 p.m. parade. The Homecoming court will be presented at 6:30 p.m.
TUNE IN
All Pearl River football games are livestreamed 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.
Games can also be heard at WRJW 1320-AM, 106.9 FM and WRJWRadio.com.
TICKETS
Tickets for Pearl River home games are on sale now at PRCCAthletics.com/tickets. General admission tickets are $10 in advance and $13 on game day.
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