No. 11 Gulf Coast pounds Itawamba at Homecoming

PERKINSTON – There's no such thing as a football doubleheader, but No. 11 Mississippi Gulf Coast dominated the opening game of a back-to-back set against Itawamba on Saturday.

The Bulldogs downed ICC 38-7 to make it a happy Homecoming at A.L. May Stadium.

In a unique situation, the teams turn around and play again here on Halloween.

"The second game is always a totally different game," Huff said. "This wasn't a perfect game by any means, so we'll have to go out and fix our mistakes from this week."

Gulf Coast finishes the regular season 7-2 overall, South Division champs at 5-1. Itawamba (6-3, 4-2 MACJC North) was elevated to the No. 2 seed in the North after East Mississippi was bumped from the playoff picture following mass suspensions after a benches-clearing brawl Thursday at Mississippi Delta.

The teams will play again Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Bulldogs got a balanced offensive attack and turned three Itawamba turnovers into 14 points, including a pick-six by freshman defensive back Octavis Johnson.

A.J. Erdely completed 14-of-21 attempts for 192 yards and three touchdowns. He had three plays for more than 20 yards, including a 55-yard scoring strike to Ishmel Morrow. Chris Robinson scored on a 39-yard wheel route and had a 24-yard touchdown reception.

"The linemen did a great running-wise and in pass protection," Erdely said. "The credit goes to the linemen."

Gulf Coast finished with 200 yards passing and had 212 rushing, led by T'Rod Daniels' 68 yards. Walter Williams added 60 yards rushing.

"All the week, the coaches did a good job letting us know what we were going to see," Gulf Coast center Randan Knight said. "We know our roles, do our jobs and know our responsibilities and everything else falls into place."

Johnson's interception return made it 21-0 with 6:40 left in the first half.

"I just played good technique. Coach (Stevon Moore) has been on me all week about playing good technique," Johnson said. "Our defensive line got pressure and I was just in good position to make a play."

Itawamba scored on its first possession of the second half, but Robinson's second touchdown reestablished a three-touchdown lead. Joshua Rowland kicked a 37-yard field goal, and Daniels scored the final points with 8:26 left in the game.

The Bulldogs head into another week of Itawamba preparations knowing next week won't be the same.

"We're going to get a totally different football team next week," Huff said. "We're going to look at them as a totally different team altogether in breaking them down. We have to make sure we have to bring what we brought this week and then bring a little bit more."

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