East Mississippi’s Bo Wallace was a high school star as a quarterback in Pulaski, Tenn., and spent a redshirt season at Arkansas State.

On Saturday afternoon at Dobie Holden Stadium, Wallace torched the Pearl River Wildcats time and again, leading the third-ranked Lions past PRCC 41-17.

Wallace will be eligible to move on to another four-year institution in January, and PRCC coach Tim Hatten won’t be unhappy to see him go. The Wildcats (4-3) can still play their way into the state JUCO playoffs with victories over Hinds and Jones, and could possibly run into East Mississippi in November.

“We got no pressure on (Wallace), but they protected him pretty well,” Hatten said. “Offensively, a lot of our problems were self-inflicted. We didn’t catch the ball very well. Melvin (German, the PRCC quarterback) got us up and down the field several times, we just couldn’t close the deal.”

East Mississippi, which is unbeaten in seven games, intercepted German three times in the second half. German completed 41 of 67 passes for 416 yards and two touchdowns. German hit Jonathan Duncan for a 10-yard scoring pass in the first quarter, giving PRCC a brief 7-6 lead, and he fired a 2-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts late in the third quarter.

Wallace, meanwhile, completed 23 of 42 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns. He was intercepted three times.

“We felt like our best chance was to put pressure on him,” PRCC defensive coordinator Jim Nowell said. “If you sit in a zone, (Wallace) will pick you apart. No doubt about it, though. They’re very good. Very explosive.”

German was intercepted on three consecutive PRCC possessions in the second half. The Wildcats’ defense threw everything it could at Wallace, but he showed good pocket presence and the ability to locate the secondary receiver.

“Our defense had to bail us out a few times in this game,” Wallace said. “This team can be as good as it wants to be. If we’re executing like we’re capable, we can put up a lot of yards, score a lot of points. It was a good win for our team.”

PRCC travels to Hinds Saturday.