Gulf Coast football team wins big in season opener

Gulf Coast head coach Jack Wright couldn’t have asked for a better start.

Behind the throwing of quarterback Philip Short and very stingy defense No. 7-ranked Gulf Coast rolled past Holmes 56-14 in the season opener at Ras Branch Stadium on Thursday night in the all-Bulldog matchup.

“In junior college you never know what to expect in your first and we came out to start the game and it was nerve wracking,” Wright said. “We started out slow on offense, but in the second quarter things started clicking and things happened.”

Gulf Coast scored their first touchdown on a botched snap on a punt in the end zone that Levi Wyatt fell on to take a 7-0 with 2:02 left in the first quarter.

Once the second quarter started it was pretty much all Gulf Coast.

Holmes fumbled on the first play of the second quarter and on the next play Short hit Jalen Bracey on a 45-yard touchdown pass to give MGCCC a 14-0 lead.

On the next drive Short connected with Southern Miss transfer Rico Dorsey on a 32-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-0.

Cam Thomas added a 72-yard touchdown run with 6:56 left in the second quarter to give MGCCC a 28-0 lead.

After Holmes scored on a 99-yard kickoff return by Kerrick Ross, Short found Keymari Odum on a 3-yard touchdown pass to give Gulf Coast a 35-7 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter Short connected with Dorsey again on a 13-yard touchdown pass to extend the MGCCC lead to 42-7.

Micah McGowan and Xavier Evans each had rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter for Gulf Coast.

“They didn’t give us a lot of deep stuff as far as throwing so we just took what the defense gave us and did a good job of distributing the ball,” Wright said. “Philip’s transition from a first year quarterback to a second year is a lot better and is doing a better job of being patient throwing the ball underneath instead of going deep.”

Short finished the night 17-of-21 for 227 yards with four touchdowns and an interception to Gulf Coast offensively.

“We came out sluggish but we stuck with the game plan. Defense gave us good field position all night and came out with the win,” Short said. “They were playing soft zone so we took advantage of what they gave us. Great to be 1-0, but we still have to get better.”

The Gulf Coast defense held Holmes to just 94 yards of total offense. Holmes completed one pass the whole game.

“Facing the option offense is always a challenge cause it’s different now from what everyone else does, so we have to change things scheme wise and just not give up big plays and they did that tonight,” Wright said. “Great to start out with a win and to see the team buy into what we’re doing, but we got to get better and get ready for next week.”

Gulf Coast (1-0) hits the road again next Thursday as they travel to Northeast, while Holmes (0-1) visits Hinds.

This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 10:33 PM.