Published: September 09, 2009 08:49 pm      

PRCC up to #5 in poll

Special to the Item

POPLARVILLE — After recording two straight convincing wins to open its 2009 gridiron campaign, Pearl River Community College picked up a No. 5 ranking in the first NJCAA Top 20 regular poll released Tuesday.

The Wildcats, who bombed MACJC non-division rival Holmes 45-7 to open the season Aug. 27 in Goodman and followed with a 42-23 bashing of Northeast Mississippi last Thursday in Poplarville, entered the season at No. 11 in the NJCAA’s preseason balloting.

Three other MACJC teams are also in the latest poll, including No. 2 East Mississippi, the defending MACJC North Division champions; No. 11 Mississippi Gulf Coast, the defending MACJC South Division and state champions; and No. 15 Northwest Mississippi, which hosts PRCC Thursday in Senatobia.

The game pits a pair of high-powered offenses and may come down to defense.

“We’re suppose to have this surplus of super-talented defensive backs, so we’ll see just how good they really are come Thursday night,” PRCC head coach Tim Hatten said. “(Northwest QB Casey) Weston’s a great player that can really move around and sling it. It’ll be a challenge for our guys.”

Pearl River was one of five state teams in the preseason balloting released in late July. Also included were Mississippi Gulf Coast (then-No. 2), East Miss (No. 6), Jones County (No. 14), and Northwest Mississippi (No. 19).

MGCCC, which won the NJCAA and MACJC championships in 2007, saw its plummet in the poll due to its 30-25 season-opening home loss to Northwest, but bounced back with a dramatic 63-9 bombing of Itawamba last week in Perkinston.

EMCC, on the other hand, opened its season with a 27-13 victory over Copiah-Lincoln in Wesson, then followed with a 28-17 thrashing of still-winless Jones County in Scooba. Northwest defeated Hinds 23-0 last week in Senatobia.

Defending national champion Butler(Kan.) was No. 1 in the preseason poll, but dropped to No. 4 after falling to now-No. 1 Blinn (Tex.) 24-17 in its season opener before bouncing back with a convincing 51-7 over intra-Jayhawk Conference rival Dodge City last Saturday.

The remainder of the poll includes No. 3 Navarro (Tex.), No. 6 Trinity Valley (Tex.), No. 7 Hutchinson (Kan.), No. 8 Dean (Mass.), No. 9 Fort Scott (Kan.), No. 10 Eastern Arizona (Ariz.), No. 12 Georgia Military, No. 13 Snow (Utah), No. 14 Ellsworth (Iowa), No. 16 Arizona Western (Ariz.), No. 17 Rochester (Minn.), No. 18 Iowa Central (Iowa), No. 19 Lackawanna (Pa.), and No. 20 Mesabi Ranger (Minn.).