MGCCC upsets No. 3 Co-Lin

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast played prototypical Bulldogs football Thursday night on the way to upsetting No. 3 Copiah-Lincoln 21-7.

Smash-mouth defense forced four turnovers, and the running game paved the way for a fourth-quarter surge that broke a tie.

"We challenged the O-line and the D-line to control the line of scrimmage, to be the most physical football team," Gulf Coast coach Chad Huff said. "The most physical football team was going to win the game. I thought we did that."

The Bulldogs bounced back from a disappointing first two weeks to post their first win of the season. The win in the MACJC South Division opener keeps them on track to defend their division title.

They did so with explosive plays in the running game, the passing game and by the defense. T'Rod Daniels (5-9, 190, So., Bassfield/Bassfield) opened the scoring with a 75-yard dash on the first play of the second quarter.

Jonathan Nance (6-2, 187, So., Gulfport/Gulfport) gave Gulf Coast the lead with a 56-yard touchdown reception with 10:54 to play. Linebacker Justin Stewart (6-0, 230, So., Northeast Jones/Laurel) iced the game with a 76-yard fumble return for a touchdown just over two minutes later.

"It feels awesome. Our heads were down a little, but after this win our spirits came up a whole lot," Stewart said. "After this, we know we're still in the race to go to the state championship."

Co-Lin, which won its first two games, lost two games in the last two days. Wednesday, the Wolves forfeited a season-opening win against Mississippi Delta for using an ineligible player. It's the second season in a row Co-Lin (1-2) has had to do so.

Daniels finished with 111 yards rushing, including the long run

"I had told coach to just give it to me one time. We were coming off the first quarter, and I told him to give it to me one more time," Daniels said. "It was there, I saw it."

He also had two third-quarter touchdowns waved off by penalties, one on a kickoff return to open the period and another on a sweep.

The defense, which battered Co-Lin quarterback Dominic DeLira all night, also had an Aretavious Hendrix (6-1, 180, Fr., Starkville/Starkville) pick-6 in the fourth quarter called back because of a foul during the return.

Gulf Coast recovered two fumbles and had two interceptions. One of the fumbles came with the Wolves in the red zone after they had taken a field goal off the board following a penalty.

Reggio Dean (5-10, 215, So., Northeast Jones/Laurel) and Vaughnte Dorsey (5-11, 195, So., Cleveland/Cleveland, Miss.) combined to sack DeLira and force the fumble Stewart returned.

Each team had double-digit penalties, and Nance's touchdown came on a free play after Co-Lin jumped offside. Kalen Whitlow (6-1, 190, Fr., Northview/Dothan, Ala.) found Nance down the sideline and he beat two different pairs of defenders to get in the end zone.

He credited tweaks to preparations this week for helping the Bulldogs pull away in the fourth quarter on a brutally hot and humid night that saw players cramping all over the field.

"We've been changing up how we do things," he said. "We've been practicing harder but shorter. We just wanted to make sure we can go as hard as we can with fresh legs."

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.