1996

WEEK 0 F _ _..:..:I 0:.._-l...:_D_ -_Cf.!.,;, ¥'~:...,__ _ _ _

W arriors rally past Pearl River Wildcats

which was also the final score, as neither team could reach the endzone the last two stanzas. East Central had 322 rush– ing yards, led by Pi ttman's 159-yard effort and Bradford's 134-yard total. The Warrior defense limited Pearl River to just 99 yards of total offense. E a st Central wil1 host Hinds for homecoming Satur– day in another key division ba tt le. The Eagles (2-3, 1-0) were pr eviously undefeated but had to forfeit three North Division games because of an in eligible player. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. a t Wamor Stadium.

It was a doubly sweet win for East Central Commu nity College head coach Will ie Coats followmg the Warrior s' 22-15 come-from-behind victory over Pearl River Saturday a fternoon in Poplarville. Coats, wh o s uccessfully gui ded t he Wildcats prior to taking over the East Central Warriors, avenged last year 's 58-10 whipping by his former players in front of a PRC home– coming crowd. The victor y also extended the War rior wi n streak to s even, including two season– ending victories from the '95 campaign. In Saturday's division bat– tle, Pearl River jumped to a quick lead after linebacke r Ricky Frankl in scooped up Warrior quarterback Jake Kizziah's fumble and raced 32 yards to paydirt with 9 :13 remaining in the first per iod. Antonio Carrillo kicked the PAT. After the kickoff, it took East Central just three plays to respond to the Wildcat tally, when freshman running back Mack Pittman rambled 64 yar ds for the score. Morton's Shaun Walker tied the game at 7-7 with his PAT. P earl River r egained t h e lead with just under six min– utes left in the initial period when Kizziah was tackled by a host of Wildcats for a safety. The Wildcats extended their lead to 15-7 when QB Shane Tapper found the endzone on an 11-yard run. capping a 10- pl ay, 51-yard drive. The PAT was blocked

The second quarter was all E as t Cen t ra l a s Pit tman recorded his second touchdown of the d ay with a nine-yard dash at t he 11:42 mark and quarterback AI Hunt connected wit h wide receiver Tim Liv– ingston of Leake Academy on a 44-yardlscoring play with 44 seconds left before halftime. Hunt tied . t he divisi on matchup a t 15-15 when he con– verted the two-point play after scrambhng to the endzone Livingston's touchdown reception climaxed a 13-play. 90-yard drive, which featured the power runnmg of Pittman and Bradford, who each accounted for over 100 yards m the day. Walker's PAT gave ..C a 22-15 lead at halftime,

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SCOTT COUN1Y T IMES____ UNION APPEAL.______ W INSTON COUNTY JOURNAL.___ MERIDIAN STAR._______

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