Gulf Coast falls at East Central

DECATUR – Mississippi Gulf Coast had its most productive night of the season offensively, but a lack of consistency doomed the Bulldogs against East Central.

The Warriors pulled away in the second half of a 42-28 victory at Bailey Stadium, dropping Gulf Coast (1-3) to 1-1 in the MACJC South Division.

"We didn't do enough to get it done," Gulf Coast coach Chad Huff said. "We didn't play well enough. We didn't execute well enough."

The Bulldogs ran for 164 yards and threw for 146, but gave up more than 500 total yards to the Warriors (2-2, 2-0).

East Central got on the board first on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Dom Marino to Chris Deloach, but Gulf Coast immediately answered with a short drive after an onside kick attempt.

Trod Daniels ran one in from 13 yards out to set the pattern for the first half, with the Bulldogs answering ECCC touchdowns.

Dwayne Barnett scored on a 3-yard run for the Warriors, only to see Lester Wells answer on the second play with a 63-yard catch-and-run with 63 seconds left in the quarter.

After Davonta Jones' 9-yard TD reception gave the Warriors a 21-14 second-quarter lead, needed one less play to respond. Ge'Vonte Jones broke off a 75-yard touchdown run to tie the game back up with 10:15 left.

"Lester made a great catch and had yards after contact, broke some tackles to get us a big play," Huff said. "Ge'Vonte broke a long run on the power and made a big play. We were able to do some things early, we just didn't play completely in all three phases of the game."

The teams exchanged punts until late in the half when East Central appeared to be content to run out the clock. Gulf Coast called a couple timeouts, and the Warriors got a first down to jump-start their offense. Antonio Gibson caught a 46-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds left to give ECCC a lead it would not relinquish.

With the Bulldogs offense sputtering in the second half, the Warriors added a pair of touchdowns on long drives to extend the lead.

Gulf Coast's Brandon Martin caught a 36-yard pass for his first touchdown of the year with 61 second left for the final margin.

Wells had five catches for 86 yards. Jones had 10 rushes for 93 yards, with Daniels picking up 54 yards on nine attempts. Kalen Whitlow completed 14 of 21 passes, and the Bulldogs did not turn the ball over.

The Bulldogs remain in the South Division title hunt a game behind the leaders. They'll entertain Hinds next week at newly renovated A.L. May Memorial Stadium.

"We've got to, as a football team, decide how important it is to us," Huff said. "We matched them early, played well. We gave up some long drives. The defense has to get off the field. The offense has got to convert some third downs and be more consistent."

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