By By Shawn Wansley / special to The Star
October 10, 2004
POPLARVILLE For 28 minutes, the Jones Junior College Bobcats did what they needed to do against the fourth-ranked Pearl River Community College Wildcats.
Jones held a 10-2 lead just before intermission. But the Wildcats scored twice in the final 1:57 of the half and then put up 36 more points en route to a 52-10 win.
Parker Dykes. "We came out the second half right away and threw a touchdown pass to the wrong team. That killed us. It broke our spirit in a way."
The muddy conditions helped slow the highly-touted Pearl River passing attack.
In fact, the Wildcats only had eight completions on the day and Jones held them without a first down until almost four minutes had elapsed in the second quarter. But those completions went for 198 yards.
Brett Hyatt connected with Willie Fields for a 41-yard touchdown pass to give JCJC the early lead. Michael Swancey added the conversion and Jones led 7-0 with 8:55 left in the first.
Pearl River cut it to 7-2 with 4:45 left in the first quarter when the JCJC punter could not handle the snap in the end zone, picked the ball up and kicked it out of the rear of the end zone for a safety.
It stayed that way until late in the second quarter when the Bobcats drove to the Wildcat 15. From there, Swancey booted a 32-yard field goal and Jones led 10-2 with 3:13 left in the first half.
But that's when the momentum shifted quickly.
Quarterback Jimmy Oliver connected with highly-touted receiver Larry Brackins for a 52-yard touchdown pass. Oliver ran for the two-point conversion and it was 10-10 with 1:57 left in the second quarter.
The Wildcats took over on its own 47 with just 45 seconds left in the half. Four plays later, Oliver hooked up with Brandon Fountain on a 20-yard touchdown pass. The kick failed but Pearl River led 16-10 at the half.
The second half was all Wildcats.
On the second play from scrimmage Hyatt was picked off by Julian McGowan, who returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. Oliver hit Brackins on a slant for the two-point conversion and it was 24-10 with 14:13 left in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, Oliver-to-Brackins connection worked again, this time for a 40-yard scoring strike.
Two possessions later, Pearl River went 80 yards in 10 plays. Quitman freshman Mike McClendon carried six times for 65 yards in the drive. Bernard Smith got the touchdown on an 8-yard run. St.
John's kick made it 38-10 with 12:09 left in the game.
The Wildcats went up 45-10 when Fountain hauled in a deflected pass and raced 45 yards for the score.
McClendon, who finished the game with 145 yards on seven carries, scored on an 80-yard run with 6:37 to play.
Jones, 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the South Division, goes on the road Saturday to meet 5-1 Northeast in Booneville. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. Pearl River, 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the division, goes to Southwest next week.