No. 8 Bulldogs beat up on ICC

PERKINSTON — No. 8 Mississippi Gulf Coast dominated the scoreboard and the stat sheet Thursday night at A.L. May Memorial Stadium, beating Itawamba 50-0.

The Bulldogs outgained the Indians 568 yards to 48 yards, and The Regulators didn't allow a first down until midway through the third quarter. Itawamba had three first downs, with one of them coming by way of penalty.

"Any time you get a win by a wide margin, there's one thing probably true every time," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "You win up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The offensive line and defensive line did their job."

Gulf Coast (2-0) started Eli Anderson (So., Philadelphia/Neshoba Central) at quarterback, and he completed 21-of-38 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns. Braydon Walker (So., Lucedale/George County) caught both of those for his first two collegiate touchdowns, and Jay Dupree (So., Philadelphia, Miss./Neshoba Central) fell just nine yards short of his second 100-yard receiving game on seven catches.

The Bulldogs got two 90-yard rushing performances by back off the bench. Trey Hall (Fr., Vicksburg/Warren Central) had 99 yards on 10 carries, including a 67-yard scamper for his TD. Chandler Chapman (Fr., Bay St. Louis/St. Stanislaus) had 11 carries for 91 yards, including a 50-yard burst up the middle for a score. He also scored from 1 yard out.

Gulf Coast ran for 246 yards, with starter Jamari Thompson (So., Pearl/Pearl) tacking on 50. 

"We studied their defense all week, and everything they did tonight was not unexpected," said Gulf Coast center Joe Bradford (So., Pass Christian/St. Stanislaus). "We started a little slow, but as the game went on, in the second half we had a good first drive and after that we were rolling."

Kionte Curry (So., Mims, Fla./Cocoa) had four tackles and a second-quarter interception.

"I dropped back in zone coverage," he said. "They ran verts, and the quarterback rolled out to his right. I just ran over and caught the ball."

Javen Gibson (Fr., Church Point, La/Church Point) and Kazarius Bowie (So., Jackson/Brandon) had sacks. There weren't a lot of snaps to pile up stats. Itawamba ran only 41 plays, exactly half what Gulf Coast did.

"I thought that was amazing. It was just a great job by Coach (Brett) Shufelt, Coach (Clarence) McDougal and Coach (Rod) Smith to have that side of the ball ready. The Regulators played with great effort." 

The Bulldogs won the special teams battle, too. Dayan Bilbo (So., Vancleave/Vancleave) had a 63-yard punt return for the opening score.

"We didn't even have a return set up there," Wright said. "He made some guys miss in the open field. That was really all on him. He is very dangerous in the open field. I'm proud for him to get going."

Bilbo also had a 50-yard kickoff return. The Bulldogs got a safety when Itawamba snapped a ball over the punter's head, and he was swarmed in the end zone.

Gulf Coast heads to Summit next week for the first road game. Kickoff against Southwest Mississippi will be at 7 p.m.

"We're extremely proud to be 2-0 and beat two really good opponents, but those have nothing to do with what our goal is," Wright said. "First and foremost, we need to be competitive in the South to get in the playoffs. Hopefully we can make that first step next week."

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