Bulldogs have to clean things up for ICC

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast isn't resting on laurels after knocking off previously third-ranked Northwest Mississippi and leaping into the NJCAA top 10.

There are too many mistakes for the Bulldogs to ignore heading into a matchup with Itawamba.

"I think we were fortunate to make some big plays on both sides of the ball," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "The interceptions on defense and the big passes on offense really were where the separation happened. Without that, it would have been very difficult to win given the number of bad, bad mistakes we made. We've got to get those fixed."

The teams kick off Thursday at 7 p.m. at historic A.L. May Memorial Stadium. Tickets, including single-game chairbacks, are available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets. The game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch and can be heard at SuperTalk 103.1 FM.

It will be University of Southern Mississippi Night, as well as Military and First Responders Night. All active duty, veteran or retired members of the military and first responders will be admitted to the game for free and be honored on the field.

Gulf Coast has won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the teams dating back to 2001. The Bulldogs have outscored ICC 460-192 during that stretch.

Itawamba lost 27-13 last week to No. 6 Jones, but were down just 13-7 heading into the final quarter. Wright said the Indians have a pair of running backs who can move, and Charleston French led ICC with 18 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown.

"They're bigger guys who move really, really well," Wright said. "They present a challenge just tackling them. Getting them on the ground is going to be tough."

The defensive front was formidable against Jones, sacking the Bobcat quarterback four times with nine tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries.

Gulf Coast got a big game from freshman defensive lineman Javen Gibson (Fr., Church Point, La/Church Point). He had five total tackles and a quarterback hurry, plus a game-changing sack.

"In this first game, he made one really, really big play with a sack with them backed up," Wright said. "I thought that was a momentum killer and turned things our way. I'm really proud of Javen Gibson. He's got a lot of potential to grow and improve."

Game #2

WHO: Gulf Coast (1-0) vs. Itawamba (0-1)

WHEN: Thursday, Sept 14, 7 p.m.

WHERE: A.L. May Memorial Stadium

WATCH: https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch

LISTEN: SuperTalk 103.1 FM

The Series

Series record: Gulf Coast leads 36-16-1

First Meeting: 1952

Last Meeting: Sept. 8, 2022, Gulf Coast 37, Itawamba 13

Notes: Gulf Coast has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, outscoring ICC 460-192 … Gulf Coast has six shutouts in its 36 wins, the last of which came in 1982 … Itawamba has one shutout in its 16 wins, a 19-0 victory in 1991 … Gulf Coast's longest win streak in the series is nine games between 2001-2015 … ICC's longest win streak is eight games between 1989-2000 … The biggest Gulf Coast win in the series was a 55-point win in 1973 (62-7), while Itawamba's biggest was a 45-7 victory in 1996 … Gulf Coast has outscored Itawamba 1,343-829 (25-3-15.6 ppg) … Gulf Coast faced Itawamba three times in a four-game stretch at the end of 2015 and start of 2016, with MGCCC winning the last game of the regular season 38-7 and the MACJC semifinal 49-17 and losing the first game of the next season 23-12 (For ICC, it was three consecutive games.)

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.