No. 5 Bulldogs rally past Bears

PHOTO BY CHUCK BARNES/SMCC

SUMMIT — No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast dug a hole in the early going but surged past pesky Southwest Mississippi on Thursday at John I. Hurst Field. The Bulldogs rushed for 265 yards in the second half on the way to a 55-33 win.

"I felt like the entire game we could run the ball," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "I never felt like we couldn't' run the football. We were struggling a little bit, and that's a really good answer to have, being able to run the football. Fortunately for us, we could do that. Sometimes when they're struggling can't do that. It was really the answer for us, to go back and hand it off and let them hit the holes behind that offensive line."

Jamari Thompson (So., Pearl/Pearl) led Gulf Coast with 171 yards on 22 carries. Trey Hall (Fr., Vicksburg/Warren Central) and Chandler Chapman (Fr., Bay St. Louis/St. Stanislaus) combined for 134 yards on 17 carries, with Hall providing an electrifying 36-yard touchdown run. The trio averaged 7.8 yards per carry.

And Eli Anderson (So., Philadelphia/Neshoba Central), who is better known for his arm, scored four rushing touchdowns.

"I love the guys up front," Thompson said. "They work hard every day in practice. They opened the holes for me, and I just did my job. They did an excellent job up front."

After Gulf Coast scored on its first possession, Southwest (1-2) hit a long touchdown pass and took advantage of two interceptions to forge a 20-7 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs put together an eight-play, 62-yard drive early in the second quarter. Anderson scored his first touchdown to cut the deficit to six. After SMCC got another short field following a turnover, they made it 23-21 with a field goal.

Anderson's 31-yard pass to JP Coulter (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) would make it 23-21 at halftime.

Thompson carried the ball the first three Gulf Coast plays after halftime, rushing for 44 yards to set up another Anderson run and put the Bulldogs in front for good, 28-23. Dayan Bilbo (So., Vancleave/Vancleave) ran for a 6-yard touchdown to put Gulf Coast up 35-26, and Hall made a powerful, spinning run to the end zone from 36 yards for a 41-26 bulge.

"Trey's a little spark plug," Wright said. "He's been really coming on. He can do some things when he's in the hole that are special. We need him to keep coming on as a freshman."

Anderson got another rushing touchdown, and backup Kason Lincke (So., Mobile, Ala./Mobile Christian) engineered a drive of his own to close out the Bulldogs' scoring. He ran three times for 33 yards and found Bilbo from 11 yards to make it 55-26.

Bilbo was sensational in the return game. He averaged 31.3 yards on six kickoff returns, with a long of 52. He also had a 21-yard punt return. Trey Hall broke a 57-yard kick return, as well.

Kazarius Bowie (So., Jackson/Brandon) led the Regulators with five tackles, including three for loss and a sack. Four of the first-half SMCC scoring drives totaled 52 yards, resulting in 16 points. They had field-goal drives of 4 and 2 yards, with 16- and 30-yard touchdown drives.

After allowing 75 rushing yards in the first half, the Bulldogs held the Bears to 34 in the second.

"They tried to run the ball, and I took that personally," Bowie said. "That's disrespectful and we had to shut that down. We started off slow and had to pick it up."

Gulf Coast faces a huge test next week with a trip to Scooba. The Bulldogs and No. 7 East Mississippi will kick off at 7 p.m. The Lions beat Gulf Coast twice last season, knocking the Bulldogs out of the playoffs in the semifinals.

"I'm sure East Mississippi has all our players attention," Wright said. "They'll have our coaching staff's attention. We've got to get back in here Sunday, lock in and have a great week of practice. It's another opportunity to put our talent on display."

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