MGCCC is replacing a QB who never lost with 2 freshmen. They’re off to a good start.
When the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College football team began practice for the 2020 season, one of the primary goals was to replace a quarterback who never lost a game as a starter.
One game into the new season, the Bulldogs maintained their winning ways behind a pair of freshman quarterbacks, Philip Short and DeCarlos Nichols, in a 42-25 victory at Pearl River Thursday night.
Chance Lovertich, who is now at South Alabama, was 18-0 as the Bulldogs’ starter during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, leading the Bulldogs to last year’s NJCAA national championship with a 24-13 victory over Lackawanna (Pa.) College in the title game.
A look at the depth chart prior to Thursday’s game over Pearl River showed a tie for the No. 1 QB spot for Gulf Coast with an “or” listed between Short and Nicholson.
Short got the start, but the two players essentially split snaps at Dobie Holden Stadium with Nicholson scrambling for nice yardage and Short hitting big plays in the passing game.
Nicholson, who hit 5-of-7 passes for 90 yards, ran eight times for 95 yards and a TD.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound, Short completed 10 of 23 attempts for 215 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
“We’ve got two really good quarterbacks,” MGCCC coach Jack Wright said. “I knew both of them were talented. They can both play and they both bring different skills to the table.
“You could see tonight that they’re both still true freshmen. They were playing high school football last year. Making the jump and playing as a true freshman in college football, there’s not a lot of people who are successful in that first year. They’ve got to continue to grow at the position.”
The pressure of living up to Lovertich’s winning ways is will hang over the two freshmen the rest of the season.
“It’s hard because you’re reminded about it a lot, knowing Chance didn’t lose games here,” Nicholson said. “Just the bar he set, you’ve got to bring your A game to practice every day and to the game. You’ve got to be focused.”
Lovertich has played in all three of South Alabama’s games this season, starting last week in a 42-10 loss to UAB, but he’s still taking time to offer some help to the MGCCC quarterbacks.
“I talk to him every day,” Short said. “He keeps me up to date, helps me out with reads. He’s a good guy, too. We have big shoes to fill.”
DeCarlos Nicholson shows he’s ‘legit’
Neither quarterback was perfect on Thursday, but they also didn’t disappoint in their debut.
Both players showed nice athleticism, but Nicholson was more inclined to run with the ball. He also showed some creativity on the move, working outside of the tackles and dishing out an underhanded shovel pass to avoid a sack.
The longest run of the night for the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Nicholson went for 48 yards on the final play of the fourth quarter, weaving through the PRCC secondary.
“We don’t hit the quarterback in practice so sometimes when he pulls it down in practice and escapes, you’re not sure if it’s legit or not. Tonight, we saw it was legit,” Wright said. “He’s a super talented kid and he brings a lot of skills to the table. He’s also got a canon for an arm.”
Freshman K.T. Hicks of Petal was the top target in the Gulf Coast passing game, catching four passes for 116 yards and a TD.
Sophomore running back Deondre House had a career game, carrying 21 times for 220 yards and one touchdown.
Two quarterbacks work for Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast will likely continue to mix in both quarterbacks after Thursday night’s performance with the two players complementing each other in the offense.
“It’s kind of like the Matt Corral and John Rhys Plumlee deal (at quarterback for Ole Miss),” Short said. “That’s how I look at it. DeCarlos is amazing athlete and we compete every day. That drives us.”
It helps that the two players have a healthy chemistry away from the field as roommates on the Perkinston campus.
“He’s a good roommate, keeps it clean,” Nicholson said. “He makes sure I’m asleep on time and everything like that.”
Seth Smith’s debut at Pearl River
The Wildcats got off to a promising start when redshirt sophomore quarterback Jakob Greer, a St. Stanislaus product, hit freshman running back Chris Holifield on a wheel route out of the backfield for a 69-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
MGCCC overcame the early momentum for PRCC and led 21-13 at halftime.
“They’re the standard. Obviously, there are no moral victories,” said PRCC coach Seth Smith, who was hired away from East Central High School late last year. “We thought we could win if we played good, but I didn’t think offensively we did enough job of putting our defense in good spots. We punted too much. I don’t think I’ve punted that much in eight years (seven times). We’ve got to do a better job of getting a rhythm.”
Greer and redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Davidson combined to complete 28 of 53 passes for 289 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
On the ground, PRCC managed just 53 yards on 28 carries.
Gulf Coast hosts Hinds next at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8. The Wildcats will travel to Copiah-Lincoln for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff that night.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 11:48 PM.
