Gulf Coast is loaded with top college prospects. Is MGCCC due another perfect season?
A year ago, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College football team rolled to an undefeated season and an NJCAA national championship with a roster that featured plenty of players who had been overlooked by major college programs.
Entering the 2020 season, coaches at Div. I programs have a close eye on the Perkinston campus.
The Bulldogs have 10 players who are committed to FBS schools.
▪ Jadarrius Perkins, sophomore DB — Oregon
▪ Deondre House, sophomore RB — Arkansas State
▪ Jymetre Hester, sophomore WR — Florida Atlantic
▪ Navonteque Strong, sophomore LB — Mississippi State
▪ Mike Smith, sophomore LB — South Alabama
▪ Malik Jones, sophomore DB — Texas-San Antonio
▪ Quincy Magee, sophomore OL — South Alabama
▪ Hayden Shook, sophomore OL — Tulane
▪ Keshawn Moore, sophomore OL — South Alabama
▪ Jae’Vien Gill, sophomore DL — Troy
MGCCC has long been a stop on the recruiting trail for some of the region’s top college programs, but the renewed interest has a great deal to do with the 2019 national title trophy the Bulldogs earned with a 24-13 win over Lackawanna College in Pittsburg, Kansas, on Dec. 5.
“Anytime you win a national title, that brings in more recognition from media and four-year colleges,” third-year coach Jack Wright said. “Those names were repeated on TV screens across the country.
“It’s a good group and I think it’s a recognition of what we provide our student-athletes. It’s not just great facilities and a winning tradition. They’re getting academic support and we have coaches that treat the players as if they’re their own children. All that has come to fruition in year No. 3.”
The Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference is the only junior college league playing games this fall after the NJCAA announced plans to move football back to the spring.
East Mississippi Community College opted out of competing this fall, but the rest of 14-team MACCC will be playing six-game division-only schedules starting on Thursday.
The Bulldogs are glad to be playing football this fall while the rest of the nation sits this one out.
“I’m grateful, blessed,” Magee said. “I’m glad God put us in this position and we’re ready to play football.”
MGCCC will be a heavy favorite when it travels to rival Pearl River for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Poplarville on Thursday.
“It’s different starting off with a division game the first game of the year,” Smith said. “The stakes are higher. We’ll have to come out with our best game.”
MGCCC graduated its starting quarterback, Chance Lovertich, and top rusher, Austin Bolton, from last year’s squad, but the pieces are in place on both sides of the ball to make the Bulldogs just as unbeatable as they were during a 12-0 season a year ago.
MGCCC OFFENSE BREAKDOWN
The offensive line may be the biggest in the nation with sophomore right guard Quincy McGee, who is listed at 6-4, 335 pounds, being the leader of that group.
Wright estimated his offensive line will average about 6-6, 370 pounds.
“We’re extremely large up front,” Wright said. “We have three kids that are about 6-8, 350. It’ll be fun to watch them develop. It’s the biggest group I’ve ever been around and possibly the biggest group at any level.”
The biggest player on the roster is freshman Kelin Williams, who is listed at 6-8, 400 pounds. Freshman Percy Lewis is 6-8, 350, and Moore is listed at 6-7, 310.
Sophomore Deondre House, a big-play back who carried 103 times for 744 yards and four touchdowns last season, is back to lead the ground game.
“We’re going to be deep again,” Wright said of his running backs. “House is the only returner after leading the nation in yards per carry. He gets the nod there with his experience. We’ve signed Cam Thomas of Picayune and (Petal product) Micah McGowan, who were first-team all-state. A lot like our other positions, I’ve got to get the ball in their hands against someone else to make a true evaluation.”
At receiver, MGCCC has two of its top three players back from 2019 in Jymetre Hester and Jalen Bracey. The two combined for 90 catches for 1,104 yards and 13 touchdowns.
With two-year starter Lovertich graduated and now seeing time behind center at South Alabama, Wright will be looking to a pair of freshmen at quarterback this season — Philip Short of Madison-Ridgeland Academy and Petal’s DeCarlos Nicholson. Short, who threw for 3,545 yards and 31 TDs last season, is more of a pro-style QB while Nicholson is more likely to take off with the ball.
“We weren’t able to get our hands on them until the middle of August, but we’ve signed two extremely talented freshmen,” Wright said. “They’ve been pleasant surprises, both of them, in the first five weeks. We’re anxious to see what happens when the lights are turned on.”
MGCCC DEFENSE BREAKDOWN
Wright believes he’s got a defensive group that has a good feel for the scheme and will be able to respond to whatever the offense throws at them.
“That’s a talented group,” Wright said. “When we talk about speed, we’re talking about the ability to react. It’s not necessarily a (40-yard dash) time or quick-twitch muscle. You’re able to predict what’s happening. Track speed is important, but it’s more about football instinct and the ability to predict how you’re going to get attacked.”
Gulf Coast will rely on three sophomores to lead the way on the defensive front — Brian Merritt (6-1, 290), Jace McCoy (6-3, 260) and Jae’Vien Gill (6-5, 250).
No group on the team may be more talented than the linebackers, led by Smith and Strong — the team’s top two tacklers from last season. The 6-1, 225-pound Smith had 105 tackles and Strong (6-1, 230) checked in at 104.
Wright also pointed out two other sophomores, Malik Jones and C.J. Williams, as players who will provide quality depth at linebacker.
“That’s probably the strength of the team, having (Smith and Strong) back,” Wright said. “That’s a really strong group.”
Wright considers the Oregon-bound Perkins the headliner of the secondary and that group got better after cornerback Scooby Carter, a former 5-star prospect out of high school, transferred in from Alabama.
Diwun Black, a Florida commit, was a standout defensive back for the Bulldogs as a freshman last year, but he was not listed on the roster that MGCCC released on Tuesday. It’s unclear why he is no longer with the team.
“That’s a talented group, but Jadarrius is the only one who played a lot back there last year,” Wright said. “We have three to four spots that have to proven. They’ll be thrown in and tested. They’re going to have to respond.”
If the entire MGCCC team answers the call, there’s a good chance they’ll be lifting a 17th state championship trophy.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
