JUCO Football Eve, Part II: Pearl River Wildcats

POPLARVILLE, Miss (WXXV) — Pearl River Community College football is coming off its best season in a dozen years heading into year four of the Seth Smith era.

Last year’s overall record of 6-3 was the best in Poplarville since 2010, but the Wildcats were still just short of reaching the playoffs with a MACCC South division mark of 4-2.

Those two losses were decided by a combined 20 points, including a six-point loss at Jones College, which was the difference in the Wildcats cracking the postseason for the first time since 2008 and staying home.

Leading the way on offense this season is Pass Christian alum Dustin Allison, who spent two seasons at Pearl River before going to Southern Miss in 2022, and now returning to PRCC with Division I experience.

As a team, the Wildcats are going by the motto ‘DTA’ which stands for Discipline-Toughness-Attitude.

“The energy is good,” said PRCC sophomore defensive tackle and Pascagoula alum Olajahwon Harris. “The energy, we had to build it up for a little minute, but it’s all up here now.”

“A lot of people weren’t expecting that out of us,” said PRCC redshirt freshman cornerback and Stone alum Zavier Fairley. “Going 6-3, that really surprised a lot of people, and it was just very exciting for a lot of people. I hope we have a better season.”

“Definitely fuel to the fire knowing that they were that close to accomplishing something that hasn’t been done in a while, so when we come out here everybody knows, it’s still in the back of their mind that they were that close, but we could do it this year with the team we have if everybody works hard,” said Allison.

“Whether you win or lose, you always want to have that chip on your shoulder because that’s hopefully what helps push you over the edge and helps you become great, so yeah, for us, you hear all the time it’s a game of inches,” said Smith. “But it really is. We were six points away from winning the league, so do whatever you have to do to close the six-point gap, and that’s kind of been the mantra all off-season.”

The Wildcats kick off their 2023 campaign on the road at Holmes at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.