Wolves & Bulldogs battle again for MACJC Championship
The stakes were pretty high back on Oct. 20 when Gulf Coast defeated Co-Lin 54-21 in Wesson. That battle was for control of the MACJC South Division and it featured theBulldogs jumping out to a 20-0 lead and cruising to a victory.
Less than a month later, the re-match is for the State title. Gulf Coast, ranked No. 6 in this week's NJCAA poll, is coming off a 43-17 thrashing of Northwest in one MACJC Semi-Final while Co-Lin, ranked No. 11 this week, got a 96-yard kickoff return by Joe Craig Jr. with nine seconds left to de-throne defending State& National Champion East Mississippi 47-46 and set up an All-South Championship Game.
In 2010, Gulf Coast defeated Co-Lin 31-17 to claim the college's 15th State title.
If the Bulldogs want a 16th championship, the team will have to once again slow down a Co-Lin offense that racked up 476 yards against East Mississippi in last week's playoff game. Quarterback Chandler Rogers went 15-of-24 for 321 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions while Craig, who scored two touchdowns against Gulf Coast in the first meeting, led the receivers with 3 catches for 100 yards. Casey Gladney caught 4 passes for 94 yards while running back Darius Guy led the Wolfpack ground attack with 20 carries for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs are riding a five-game winning streak and a 20-game home winning streak into the Championship contest. It's also the sixth straight trip to the MACJC title game for Gulf Coast, with victories in 2007, 2008, and 2010.
Against Northwest, the Bulldogs broke open a 14-14 game by outscoring the Rangers 29-3 the rest of the way and forcing Northwest into committing fourturnovers.
Bulldog Quarterback Clint Hatten (2,174 yards passing) is among the NJCAA'S top five in TD passes with 27 while wide receiver D'haquille Williams is second in the nation in receiving TD'S with 15 and third in the Nation in receiving yards with 1,073. Freshman running back Detrick Goff now has 10 rushing touchdowns, including three against Northwest.
The Bulldog rushing attack averages 275 yards per game while the Gulf Coast defense ranks fifth in the NJCAA and has forced 27 turnovers in 2012
PHOTO: MGCCC Wide Receiver Dhaquille Williams catches a TD pass against Co-Lin back on Oct. 20. The Bulldogs won that game 54-21.
