No. 7 Bulldogs beat No. 9 EMCC, punch ticket to title game

SCOOBA — No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast will play in its first MACCC championship game since 2019 after vanquishing No. 9 East Mississippi 45-24 here at Sullivan-Windham Field.

The Bulldogs pulled away in the second half of the conference semifinal showdown to keep their season alive at least one more week.

"We're excited about it," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "We feel like we belong there. I feel like we've got a championship-caliber club. We'll face somebody Northwest, who is also that same caliber team, so it'll be a great game."

The Bulldogs will travel to Senatobia next Saturday for the 18^th conference championship game since 1971. The school has won 16 conference titles, including before the advent of the playoffs.

Gulf Coast is now 36-32-1 against East Mississippi.

Gulf Coast (9-1), which handed East Mississippi (7-3) losses to start and start the Lions' season, won battles in all three phases, perhaps the biggest coming in special teams. EMCC was trying to cut into a 21-17 third-quarter deficit with a 24-yard field goal when La'Zeric Johnson (Fr., Eight Mile, Ala./Blount) raced in from the wing to block it. The ball rebounded to around midfield, then was finally corralled by Shadrick Toodle (So., Mobile, Ala./Cottage Hill) at the Lions 29. He made it to the 1, and Alan Woods (Fr., Jacksonville Fla./University Christian) punched it in on the next play.

"La'Zeric made a great play," Wright said. "He laid out, you know, just unbelievable effort. You know, we teach that every day, but we just we haven't gotten one all year. Got that one at a key moment, and then, you know, we've watched the ball bobble for about 60 yards there before, you know, Tootle finally got his hands on it." 

East Mississippi marched back down the field to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 28-24, but the Bulldogs needed just two plays to answer. Alan Woods (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian), who finished with 109 yards, ran for 10. Then Landon Varnes (So., Brandon/Brandon) hooked up with Lion-killer Tyler Henderson (So., Vicksburg/Vicksburg) for a 57-yard touchdown.

"They had me in the slot for the first time this year," Henderson said. "I was on the free safety, and I just took it one-on-one."

Henderson had nine catches for 141 yards and two scores. In the season-opening matchup against EMCC, he had 10 catches for 186 yards and a touchdown.

Antwaan Mays (So., Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) also had nine catches and two touchdowns, with 78 receiving yards. Varnes completed 23-of-30 passes for 261 yards, with four touchdowns offsetting a couple of interceptions.

Aiden Guinn (Fr., Wiggins/Stone) added a 26-yard field goal with 4:27 left, and Elijah Jones-Crosby (Fr., Laurel/West Jones) tacked on a 59-yard TD run in the final minute. He finished with nine rushes for 104 yards, joining Woods across the century mark.

"It was an awesome performance by the offensive line," Wright said. "Anytime two guys can do that, that tells you what's going on up there. We trust both those running backs. Both of them have really finished the season strong here. We're going to have to ride them next week."

Once again, The Regulators proved their ability to get better as games go on. They held East Mississippi to seven points in the second half. They also forced a critical turnover after the Bulldogs had turned it over deep in their end. Willie Breland (So., Wiggins/Stone) forced a fumble on a receiver at the 15, and Johnson recovered at the 10. That set up a 90-yard touchdown drive that gave Gulf Coast a 14-10 lead on Henderson's first score.

"We need turnovers to help the offense," linebacker Tauren Davis said, "You have to give them the ball back as much as you can because that's what every other team is game-planning against. They're trying to hold the ball from our offense because they know how powerful they are."

The Lions had six trips to the red zone and only scored 17 points. Kaleb Arterberry (Fr., Pearl/Pearl) had 12 tackles, a sack and broke up a pass. Elijah Owens (Fr., Mobile, Ala./Citronelle) had 10 tackles, and Jabari McWilliams (So., Picayune/Picayune) had a sack.

"Obviously, the job is not done, and we've got a big week next week," Wright said. "We're going to play a high-quality opponent at their place, so we've got our work cut out for us."

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.