No. 7 Bulldogs open postseason at No. 9 EMCC

PERKINSTON — No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast will face what many would see as a familiar opponent in its MACCC semifinal Saturday. The Bulldogs travel to Scooba to play No. 9 East Mississippi, a rematch of the first game of the season.

There's been a lot of water under the bridge since the Bulldogs won 41-21 at Perk on Aug. 28, and while the personnel may be the same, there's a whole regular season of growing that's happened on both sidelines. A bunch of freshmen didn't know what college football was all about a little more than two months ago.

"They've always had a lot of talent, and they have a lot of talent this year," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "They're playing faster. They're just doing a lot of things better than they did in the first game."

The teams will kick off at 3 p.m. with the winner earning a berth in the conference championship game. The Gulf Coast radio broadcast can be heard at SuperTalk 103.1 FM or https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch, and the game will be streamed at https://emcclive.com/watch-live/. 

East Mississippi has won five straight after a 2-2 start, earning the No. 1 seed from the North Division. The Lions won a tiebreaker with Northwest, which visits TOuh top-seed Copiah-Lincoln.

EMCC has a game-wrecker in edge player Terrell James, a 6-foot-4, 240-pounder from Lake Wells, Fla. He has 29 total tackles, including a pair of sacks among his 6.5 tackles for loss.

Like many games this season, The Regulators were able to buckle down after the Bulldogs fell behind 14-6 in the first quarter. They held the Lions to one touchdown the rest of the way.

Wright said winning the turnover battle will go a long way toward winning the game, as usual.

The Bulldogs expect to have a more difficult time moving the ball since rolling up 547 total yards in the first meeting, but they've been steadily rewriting the school record book since. Landon Varnes (So., Brandon/Brandon) broke the record for single-season passing yards last week with 2,799, five more than Chance Lovertich's total in the 2019 national championship season. Varnes' yards per attempt (10.9) and yards per game (311.0) are best in school history, and his passing efficiency is just below Lovertich's 2018 season.

Tyler Henderson (So., Vicksburg/Vicksburg) has been the favorite target, and he's tied for fifth in single-season receptions (53), 15 less than the record held by Dhaquille Williams. He's fourth in receiving yards, having moved a first down past the 1,000-yard mark last week, and tied for seventh in touchdowns (10).

The offense doesn't end with those two players, and young players have taken big strides since that first game.

"We have some more proven skill guys now," Wright said. "We have guys like Royale Shelvy, like Elijah Jones-Crosby, who have made plays in big games. There's a lot of confidence that maybe they didn't have the first week just because they didn't know what to expect."

The Bulldogs have gotten help up front from versatile Devonie Bailey (Fr., Gulfport/Harrison Central).

"Devonie's really developed here," Wright said. "He came here as an undersized offensive lineman. He's played plenty of snaps at offensive line, but we've also gotten some use out of him on the perimeter at tight end. He's just a good player. We're trying to find ways to get him on the field, at tackle, tight end, wherever that is. He's one of our better players, and we have to have a role for him. I think Coach (Ethan) Anderson's done a good job of creating some ways of getting him on the field and making him productive in our system."

Game #10

WHO: No. 7 Gulf Coast vs. No. 9 East Mississippi

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 8, 3 p.m.

WHERE: Sullivan-Windham Field, Scooba

LISTEN: SuperTalk 103.1 FM or  https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch

WATCH: https://emcclive.com/watch-live/

The Series

Series record: Gulf Coast leads 35-32-4

First Meeting: 1929

Last Meeting: Aug. 28, 2025, Gulf Coast 41, East Mississippi 21

Notes: Gulf Coast has won three of the last four meetings between the teams … Gulf Coast has 10 shutouts in its 35 victories, the last of which came in 1983 … East Mississippi has six shutouts in its 32 victories, the last of which came in 1987 … Gulf Coast's longest win streak in the series in seven games (1975-86) … East Mississippi's longest winning streak is 10 games (1987-2008) … The biggest Gulf Coast win in the series was a 55-0 victory in 1983, while the biggest East Mississippi win came in 1961 (49-0).

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