No. 8 Gulf Coast punches ticket to state title game

PERKINSTON – No. 8 Mississippi Gulf Coast suffered an early Halloween scare in an Itawamba rematch but survived to advance to the state championship game.

The Bulldogs scored the last five touchdowns to win going away, downing the Indians 49-17 at A.L. May Stadium.

"That's a great testament to this football team," Gulf Coast coach Chad Huff said. "They have continued to do that all year. They have believed in one another. They stayed committed and found a way to weather the storm."

The Bulldogs (8-2) will travel to Senatobia next Saturday to play No. 2 Northwest (9-1), which beat East Central 27-20 in the other MACJC semifinal.

The Bulldogs had their biggest offensive output of the season, piling up 527 yards.

Gulf Coast ran for 329 yards on 70 carries. T'Rod Daniels had 90 yards, with Chris Robinson picking up 78 and Walter Williams adding 76.

ICC scored on the game's opening drive, a 4-yard run by Kadarius Forside following a 58-yard pass play from Kwadra Griggs to Dominic Walker.

Robinson tied the game with a 4-yard touchdown run, but Kadarius Forside answered on the next play from scrimmage with a 75-yard burst. A Zach Ellis 26-yard field goal pushed Itawamba's advantage to 17-7.

"I wouldn't say we weren't prepares, but we weren't expecting to come out as aggressively as they did," Gulf Coast linebacker Reggio Dean said. "They really handed it to it, and we took it. We bounced back, came together as a team and got focused."

Gulf Coast's comeback was sparked by a drive featuring five Ge'Vonte Jones runs for 33 yards and a 23-yard Javon Floyd reception. Jones plunged in from 3 yards to make it 17-14.

The Bulldogs defense forced a three-and-out, setting up another long Gulf Coast drive. The team marched 72-yards on seven plays, punctuated by a 38-yard touchdown scamper by Daniels.

Marcus Betts got the ball right back for Gulf Coast, and three plays later A.J. Elderly found Jonathan Nance for a 47-yard touchdown with 76 seconds left in the first half.

"I ran the route coach told me to run. He said if I listen to him, I'm gonna score," Nance said. "I ran my post and was hoping A.J. would get it to me."

"Everyone pushed right, I went left and he went up and made a helluva play," Erdely said.

Erdely completed 13-of-20 passes for 198 yards. Nance led the way with five catches for 109 yards and that score.

"They came out playing way harder than we thought they'd play," Nance said. "We didn't want this to be our last game playing as a group. We had to play harder as a team, and we started to make plays."

ICC tried to chip into the deficit before halftime, but Dean made the Indians pay. He stopped in front of a Kwadra Griggs pass and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown.

"I just read my keys and did what I was supposed to do," Dean said. "Like the coaches said, the ball was going to come to me and it did."

The Bulldogs scored 28 points in the last 7:02 of the half to take a 35-17 lead.

Gulf Coast converted an astounding 14-of-19 third downs in the game.

"We've been striving to get to 60 percent on third downs," Huff said. "If you've get to 60 percent, you've got a chance to win every ballgame."

Short second-half touchdowns by Robinson and Williams salted the game away, setting up a trip back north for a chance to avenge a 26-10 loss to Northwest in the second game of the season.

Gulf Coast is making its first trip to the title game since 2012 and will be trying to win its first state title since 2010.

"This was our goal, our objective starting Day 1 when they reported this summer, and all the way back to February and the spring when the sophomores were working in the offseason," Huff said. "I'm proud of these guys."

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