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Head Football Coach Ricky Smither leads the 2009 Tiger squad onto the gridiron at Keenum Stadium in front of a packed house on Thursday, August 27, versus the Hinds Eagles, in an impressive season debut.
August 31, 2009
STATE’S TOP DEFENSES SQUARE OFF THURSDAY NIGHT
BOONEVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi top junior college defenses will face off in Poplarville on Thursday.
Northeast Mississippi Community College’s football team will also look for its first win during the second week of the season after falling to Hinds Community College in the Tigers home opener at Keenum Stadium Thursday, Aug. 27, when it travels to Pearl River Community College in Poplarville.
Pearl River holds the top spot in the state by only allowing 177 yards to Holmes in its first game while Northeast held Hinds to 183 yards during its opener at Keenum Stadium last week.
After failing to convert on a 19-yard field goal, Northeast saw its chances of a win slip away as Hinds booted a 37-yard chip shot in overtime then returned a fumble to the house to cap a 16-7 win for the Eagles.
This week, Northeast travels to Poplarville to take on the nation’s no. 11 team in the country Pearl River Community College.
Pearl River (1-0) shellacked Holmes Community College in the two teams’ season opener 45-7 with PRCC quarterback Emil Jones throwing for five TDs on just 25 completions as the Wildcats knocked off the Bulldogs in Goodman.
Northeast (0-1) will match Pearl River’s offense with freshman quarterback Clint Wilson who was 28-of-45 for 220 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
During Pearl River’s 45-7 win, Jones accounted for two-thirds of the Wildcat offense through the air. Jones was 25-of-38 for 371 yards with five scores as Pearl River put 560 yards together in its 38-point victory.
Jones hooked up with Willie Downs (Tallahassee, Fla.) for 124 yards on five completions and a pair of scores and found Canton native Desmond Ratliff on six balls for 117 yards and a score. Ohio University transfer Serggio Judkins (Ocala, Fla.) was limited to five catches for 53 markers in just two-and-a-half quarters after he was taken out of the Wildcat opener with a concussion in the third period.
Pearl River will have to deal with Northeast’s stout defense that limited Hinds to a meager 183 yards of offense in the Tigers home opener and clamped down in the secondary holding the Eagles to just 94 yards through the air on 11-of-27 attempts.
Brad Boyette’s Tiger defense was led by University of Tennessee commitment John Brown (Lakeland, Fla.) who finished the night with nine tackles – include two tackles for loss and Adam Funk (Tupelo) who also checked in against the Eagles with nine stops and two tackles for loss.
While Wilson picked apart the Eagle defense to the tune of 220 yards, the Tiger backfield did its job with 131 yards on the ground thanks to returnees Jeremy Cannon (New Albany) and Eric Knowlton (Horn Lake). Cannon produced 131 yards by himself on 18 carries while Knowlton made the most of his four touches with 26 markers for a 6.5 yard per carry average.
Northeast’s kickoff will be 30 minutes earlier than normal in Poplarville with the start coming at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on The Shark 102.3 FM and is also available as a live stream on the NEMCC athletic webpage or at http://www.classicradiofm.com/
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