No. 5 Bulldogs show grit in 33-31 MACCC semifinal loss

SENATOBIA — No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast put on one of the most amazing performances in the school's history, rallying without a quarterback to twice take a second half lead before losing 33-31 to No. 4 Northwest Mississippi at Bobby Franklin Field.

The Bulldogs trailed by 21-10 at halftime and had to turn to running back Brandon Hines to lead the offense in the second half of the MACCC semifinal.

"I'm just really, really proud of this group," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "We've got a bunch of great players. Landon (Varnes) is really good, but we've got a bunch of great players. We never gave up. They could have easily tucked tail and given up. He's our leader on offense. It just didn't go our way as far as injuries go. Brandon deserves to be given a lot of respect for what he did being put in that situation. He came in and made plays. We practiced that a little, but not enough to get the production we got. It was just a bunch of guys on offense that decided they weren't going to go down without a fight."

Gulf Coast (8-2) outgained Northwest (9-1), even after starting quarterback Landon Varnes couldn't play in the second half. Hines led a Wildcat offense that helped put up 224 rushing yards. He completed 4 of 6 passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

"Our O-line is amazing. Our running backs are amazing. Our wide receivers are amazing," Hines said. "I just had to do my part. I had to get them the ball and trust my eyes. Coach Wright set me up for this the whole week and told me just to be ready. I just did that. They put me in the right position to make plays, and I just had to make them."

Northwest converted a pair of Gulf Coast turnovers for touchdowns in the first half to build a 21-10 lead. The Regulators' Marcus House (So., Batesville/South Panola) forced a fumble that Marcus Washington (So., D'Iberville/D'Iberville) on the second play after the break, and the Bulldogs got a 38-yard field goal by Connor Mullins (Fr., Brandon/Brandon).

After a Rangers punt, Gulf Coast put together an 80-yard drive kept alive when Matt Adcock (So., Raleigh/Simpson Academy) converted a fourth-and-4 on a fake punt. His 21-yard run got the Bulldogs near midfield, and Hines finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Mason Beverly (Fr., Purvis/Purvis). The Bulldogs tried to tie it with a two-point conversion, but still trailed 21-19.

NWCC added a field goal on the final play of the third quarter before a wild fourth unfurled. Trey Hall (So., Vicksburg/Warren Central) had a 35-yard gain on a third-and—1, and he punched it in from a yard out for a 25-24 lead.

The Rangers struck back on one play, a 65-yard pass to go up 30-25. Gulf Coast answered with a 10-play, 66-yard drive, ending with Hines' second TD pass, a 12-yarder to Tyler Henderson (Fr., Vicksburg/Vicksburg). Gulf Coast went for two and failed again but led 31-30.

Northwest took the lead back on a 43-yard field goal with 3:01 to play, and the Bulldogs couldn't gain a first down on their last drive.

Hall finished with 137 yards on 19 carries, and Hines added 46 on 12 attempts. Gulf Coast outrushed the Rangers 224-78.

"It was a fantastic game," Wright said. "We're not surprised. That's the way he plays versus everybody. We've been kinda saving him until the end of the year. He showed out today."

Varnes completed 15 of 21 passes for 131 yards and a 34-yard touchdown pass to JP Coulter (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) that opened the scoring. Coulter led the Bulldogs with 71 yards on five catches.

Mullins had a 25-yard field goal in the first half.

Javen Gibson (So., Church Point La./Church Point) led the defense with nine tackles, including three for losses. Montrell Chapman (So., Batesville/South Panola) had eight tackles, and Jonathan Keys (Fr., Laurel/West Jones) had a sack.

The Bulldogs shared the MACCC South title, the sixth straight season they've won it outright or won a piece of that championship.

"We've got a good group of kids. It's a very high character group, a very mature group," Wright said. "These guys are going to go on and make us all proud. I'm going to miss them. They're a lot of fun to be around every day. We're going to weep for a day or so and then we're going to move forward."

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