Gulf Coast, Pearl River can’t generate wins in juco action

Mississippi Gulf Coast and Jones came into Thursday night’s showdown ranked in the top 15, and the slugfest that took place at Bobcat Stadium was evidence.

The No. 12 Bulldogs lost 16-13 to the No. 13 Bobcats on a hot muggy night.

“I told our team and our coaches that this one was going to be decided late in the fourth quarter,” Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. “It’s the first real test we had this year, and I was right. It’s a classic MACJC South Division game, and we came out on the short end tonight.”

Gulf Coast (3-1 overall, 0-1 South) held Jones (3-1, 2-0) to 268 total yards, and the defense had five sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception. Chandler Phillips (So., Hattiesburg/Hattiesburg) had the interception, and Dayreke Snow (So., Newton/Newton) recovered a fumble.

But the Bulldogs’ offense couldn’t get on track, generating only 117 of their 309 yards through the air. The offense also saw its first drive of the game go 78 yards and fail on a fumbled snap at the Jones 1-yard line.

“There’s a lot of positives,” Wright said. “The defense played really well, and they’ve played really well all year. That’s very encouraging. They’ve been very consistent. Going into games now, we know what we’ve got, and it’s going to allow us to lean on them a little bit. We did tonight.”

East Central 24, Pearl River 21 — Pearl River came to life Thursday. Hosting No. 20 East Central at Dobie Holden Stadium, the Wildcats broke off big plays offensively and played a smothering brand of defense to mount a valiant comeback effort in their 24-21 defeat.

ECCC (3-1, 2-0) capitalized on opportunities early, building a 21-0 lead after the first frame. Both teams traded field goals in the second quarter, with PRCC’s Will Lang (Inverness; Indianola Academy) converting a 39-yarder to break the shutout going into halftime.

The Wildcats’ momentum carried over into the second half. Not only did the defense limit the Warriors to just three first downs, but the Wildcat attack also got into a groove.

PRCC (0-4, 0-2) tacked on two points early in the third quarter when an ECCC snap sailed over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone. The Wildcats capitalized on the ensuing possession, driving 56 yards in nine plays and scoring on a 22-yard kick from Lang.

“We had a good week of practice, we just came in and got better and better,” Thompson said. “We came in and had a talk that we had to clean the mistakes up and we took that to the game and did what we had to do.”