No. 8 Gulf Coast blows out Southwest

SUMMIT – Mississippi Gulf Coast played perhaps its most complete game of the season Thursday at Southwest.

The No. 8 Bulldogs had nearly 400 yards total offense and allowed roughly half that defensively in dominating the Bears 37-10.

"We challenged the guys to put a complete game together," Gulf Coast coach Chad Huff said. "I think we've played at well at times throughout the season, but we hadn't played a complete game."

Gulf Coast (5-1, 4-0 MACJC South) remains atop the South Division standings with Copiah-Lincoln, and is heading into a showdown next Thursday with archrival Pearl River. The victory highlights a week the school celebrated spending a decade continuously in the NJCAA Top 20, one of only two schools with a similar active streak.

Southwest falls to 2-4, 1-3.

Quarterback A.J. Erdely was a super-efficient 24-of-28 passing for 218 yards. He didn't throw any touchdowns, but got the offense in right calls to generate four touchdowns on the ground.

Tevaris McCormick had two of those touchdowns as part of a balanced rushing attack. He was one of three running backs with 40 yards or more, led by Chris Robinson's 59 yards.

"I felt like when we came out the first time for warm-up, everybody was on one page," McCormick said. "That told us everything about how the game was going to go."

Robinson had a touchdown, as did Walter Williams, who added 44 yards.

"I thought (offensive coordinator) Jason (Phillips) did a really good job with unbalanced formations, giving the quarterback an option," Huff said. "We played a numbers game. If they were going to play the guys in the box, we were going to throw it out to the receivers."

Gulf Coast also had its first game without a turnover.

Southwest's Reed James kicked a 26-yard field goal on the Bears' first possession, and they would miss a field goal on their second. Other than that, Gulf Coast's defense controlled the proceedings.

Southwest managed only 208 yards offense. Bears quarterback Casey Haygood was a mere 10-for-22 for 103 yards, and he was sacked four times.

Justin Blue ran for 69 yards and Ladarrien Peterson ran for 65, but the 45 yards lost on sacks held for Southwest to 112 yards rushing.

"They did specific things out of different formations," Gulf Coast defensive coordinator Steve Davis said. "Our kids did a great job all week of preparing and recognizing the formations and making the checks that fit."

Sophomore safety Nikko Robinson was the man tasked with making those reads and making the calls.

"Everything they ran, we saw in practice," he said. "It wasn't anything we'd seen in practice. It was an easy adjustment. I just had to get them lined up and let 'em play."

Ge'Vonte Jones scored on a 2-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead with 8 seconds left in the first quarter. The extra point failed, one of the few blemishes on the night.

McCormick scored on a 10-yard sweep on the Bulldogs' next possession, and Robinson scored on another sweep, this one from 20 yards out, to make it 20-3 with 8:02 left in the half.

The Bulldogs' two-minute defense got them a 38-yard Joshua Rowland field goal 1 second before halftime for a 23-3 lead.

McCormick scored on yet another sweep, and Williams scored with 7:34 left for Gulf Coast's biggest lead of the night.

The Bulldogs will be pointed toward a big rivalry game this week. Pearl River visits next Thursday.

"It's a big week. It's Pearl River week," Huff said. "It's the biggest game of the year. It's the next game, but we all know this Pearl River-Gulf Coast rivalry is huge."