No. 5 Bulldogs host Homecoming on Saturday

PERKINSTON — No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast will take the field Saturday for the 94^th Homecoming, the earliest date for the event in school history.

It's only the third Homecoming in September, and the Bulldogs will face a team led by a familiar face. Southwest Mississippi visits A.L. May Memorial Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff with former Gulf Coast offensive lineman and assistant coach Les George in his first season in charge.

"They run the ball really well," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "They've got strong running backs and a strong offensive line. They've stopped the run really well. They're just a physical team, a very sound football team."

Buy your tickets ahead of time to save money. It costs $10 for adults or $7 for youth online, or $15 and $10 at the gate. Tickets are available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets, and the game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch. It can be heard on SuperTalk 103.1 FM.

For a complete list of Homecoming activities, go to https://mgccc.edu/homecoming.

Wright's teams have won all five Homecomings he's coached in. To make it six in a row, he'll have to slow down Jalen Williams. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back is averaging 109.3 yards per game and has a couple touchdowns.

"He's a spectacular player who runs hard and gets north and south," Wright said. "He's hard to run down and doesn't need a lot of room to make something happen. We have our hands full of him."

Southwest has beaten Holmes and Pearl River in its first three games. The Bulldogs are looking to stay unbeaten, and they are concentrating on themselves.

The Saturday kickoff gave the team an extra day off on Sunday, and Wright's staff has been working on eliminating mistakes that have popped up in all three phases of the game.

One player who's had a great debut has been cornerback Elijah Owens. The freshman from Mobile, Ala., brings his long, 6-foot-3 frame to great effect on the field.

"Elijah's a fantastic athlete," Wright said. "He's got the size, the speed, all the physical ability. He's been thrown in there as a true freshman in some big games already and has performed great. We ask a lot out of our corners here, and he's been able to rise to the occasion."

Game #4

WHO: Gulf Coast (3-0, 1-0 MACCC South) vs. Southwest (2-1, 1-0 MACCC South)

WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.

WHERE: A.L. May Memorial Stadium, Perkinston

WATCH: https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch

LISTEN: SuperTalk 103.1 FM

The Series

Series record: Gulf Coast leads 65-22-3

First Meeting: 1931

Last Meeting: Sept. 19, 2024, Gulf Coast 55, Southwest 36

Notes: Gulf Coast has won the last 18 meetings, dating back to 2007 … That's tied for the longest winnings streak in the series (1962-1979) … The Bulldogs have scored 40 or more points in the last nine games … Gulf Coast is averaging 47.2 points in that streak, Southwest 16.1 … Gulf Coast has 16 shutouts in its 59 victories … Southwest has three shutouts, the last of which came in 1958 … Southwest's longest win streak is seven between 1995 and 2001 … The biggest Gulf Coast win in school history came in this series in 1962 (77-6), while the biggest for Southwest was in 2000 (55-19).

Homecoming Notes

• Gulf Coast is 59-34 on Homecoming.
• Gulf Coast is averaging 24.5 points per Homecoming game, while opponents are averaging just 16.7.
• Gulf Coast has won the last six Homecoming games dating back to 2018, and eight of the last nine Homecoming games dating to 2015.
• Gulf Coast has shut out 11 opponents on Homecoming, including the last three years, and has been shut out nine times.
• Gulf Coast's biggest margin of victory on Homecoming is 63, which happened in last year's win 63-0 win over Coahoma.
• Gulf Coast biggest margin of defeat on Homecoming is 55, losing 55-0 to Hinds in 1995.
• Jack Wright has the third-most Homecoming wins: 5. (This is his seventh season at Gulf Coast, but there was no game in 2020 because of COVID.) George Sekul has the most Homecoming wins with 19, and Steve Campbell has 8.
• Jack Wright (5-0) is one of four Gulf Coast coaches who are unbeaten at Homecoming: Marvin "Red" Campbell, 2-0; Nolan E. Tollett, 2-0, Robert Whitman, 1-0.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.