Former Wildcats helping Holmes, PRCC get off to hot starts on the gridiron
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Keenan Franks (State Line; Greene County) breaks through the Southwest defensive line for a gain. The freshman had 23 carries for 141 yards and two touchdowns in the 27-17 victory.
Photo Courtesy of PRCC Athletics
From Staff Reports
After throwing the ball 25 and 33 times in each of its first two games, the Pearl River football team had a different game plan in mind Thursday night in its home and south division opener against Southwest, and a former GCHS Wildcat took advantage.
The Wildcats took to the field and pounded the rock for four quarters, registering 60 carries, 318 yards and four scores to take down the Bears 27-17. Former GCHS standout Keenan Franks, a freshman at PRCC, led the way for the Wildcats, rushing his way to 141 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
“I wouldn’t have done this without our offensive line’s play. They helped out so much tonight,” said Franks. “The wide receivers were pushed in practice all week, and they blocked well. We all did what we needed to do.”
PRCC’s 430 yards of total offense were the most since Sept. 1, 2022, when it collected 533 yards against Holmes.
“In this league, the team that executes and plays the hardest will win the game,” head coach Seth Smith said. “We fought hard tonight, and I am proud of them. We still left four touchdowns on the field. We have to take care of those opportunities.”
“We are a young team, and these guys are still learning how to finish games. You can’t take any plays off.”
Pearl River (2-1 overall; 1-0 MACCC South) made its opening drive count when Franks went nearly untouched up the middle for 15 yards and his first collegiate touchdown. Franks sealed the win for PCHS when got into the endzone for the second time in the contest on a 7-yard scamper to cap an 11-play, 95 yards that erased nearly six minutes off the game clock and pushed the Wildcats’ lead to 27-17.
Pearl River hits the road next week to take on East Central. Kickoff from Decatur is set for 6:30 p.m.
All Pearl River football games are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the “Pearl River CC” channel from their app stores.
B.J. Johnson
Holmes CC
K.J. Miller
Holmes CC
Johnson, Miller coming up big as Holmes jumps out to 3-0 start
Over in Goodman, two of Franks’ former teammates at GCHS have helped lead Holmes Community College to a 3-0 start to the season and a 1-0 beginning in conference action.
Freshmen B.J. Johnson, who graduated from GCHS with Franks this past May, and 2023 GCHS graduate K.J. Miller, are playing big roles for the Bulldogs offense and each made nice impacts in Holmes 42-23 win over Coahoma in Goodman Thursday night.
Johnson was tied for the team lead with five catches against the Tigers. His 6-yard TD catch from Chase Richardson put the game away for Holmes late in the fourth quarter and gave him 65 yards and a TD for the game. Miller had a solid game too, carrying the rock 11 times for 65 yards.
Holmes will look for another big win this coming week as the Bulldogs will travel to Booneville to take on Northeast CC in conference action. Northeast is off to a 1-1 start after a season-opening loss to East Central and a 49-30 win over the Bears from Southwest MS CC two weeks ago. Northeast had a bye week this past week.
Holmes CC live streams its home football games at www.holmesccmedia.com/cardinal-channel. Away games are broadcasted by the home team. This week’s matchup with Northeast will be available at www.nemcctv.com.
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