No. 4 Bulldogs run past PRCC

PERKINSTON — No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast ran for 351 yards against archrival Pearl River on Thursday night, calming things down after a wild and wacky first quarter on the way to a 52-21 victory.

The Bulldogs stayed perfect on the year by piling up 571 total yards backed with The Regulators' stout defense.

"As a play caller, when you can hand off and gain yards, that makes it really, really easy to come back to," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "You feel like you're doing your team a disservice if you can run the football and don't. we felt like we could run the football, so we stuck with that. Our O-line has had a good string of games."

Gulf Coast is 5-0 overall, 2-0 MACCC South. The Bulldogs and Jones are the only undefeated teams in the South.

If you had a crazy plays football bingo card, you would have filled it pretty quickly at A.L. May Memorial Stadium. There was a 75-yard bomb, a dropped punt snap, a 100-yard interception return and an 82-yard blocked field goal return in the first 25 minutes.

That stretch ended with the Bulldogs up 28-21, having erased a 14-7 deficit.

"It was a Pearl River-Gulf Coast game," Wright said. "It was a wild first quarter-plus-some. We got down and our kids never panicked. There was never a feeling of, 'Oh no, what are we gonna to do now.' We know we have a good football team, and we had some confidence on the sideline. We just had to keep playing." 

The biggest play was the pick-six, which came courtesy of Gulf Coast's LJ Hewitt (So., Sanford, Fla./Palmetto). The Wildcats (0-5, 0-2) were in the red zone, driving to take a 21-14 lead when Hewitt struck.

"I was playing off, and I was watching the quarterback," the Missouri transfer said. "They threw up a little pop fly ball. I caught the ball, and I saw my dogs in front of me. I knew I had to crib it."

It flipped the lead in Gulf Coast's favor, giving the Bulldogs a lead they'd never relinquish. The Regulators gave up the one long TD pass, but held the Wildcats to 335 total yards. Montrell Chapman (Fr., Batesville/South Panola) and Kionte Curry (So., Mims, Fla./Cocoa) had interceptions. Curry has five for the season, tying him for first in the country.

Kevin Larkins (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Fort Lauderdale) and Javen Gibson recovered fumbles, with Gibson adding a sack. 

Once the Bulldogs got that lead, they kept running the ball to expand it. 

Jamari Thompson (So., Pearl/Pearl) had 22 rushes for 159 yards and three touchdowns, and Trey Hall (Fr., Vicksburg/Warren Central) ran nine times for 131 yards and a score. Hall's average was 14.6 yard per rush, and the Bulldogs averaged 7.3 yards as a team.

"We have to finish our blocks like (offensive line) Coach (Emmanuel) McCray says, do it for the team," said offensive tackle Greg Nunnery (So., McComb/McComb). "We want to win a championship. It's personal this year."

Backup quarterback Kason Lincke (So., Mobile, Ala./Mobile Christian) had the other rushing touchdown, punctuating his first drive with a dynamic set of keepers. Eli Anderson (So., Philadelphia/Neshoba Central) completed 16-of-23 passes for 191 yards and an 18-yard score to JP Coulter (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs). 

Jay Dupree (So., Philadelphia, Miss./Neshoba Central) had six catches for 67 yards, and Coulter had three for 54. Eight different Bulldogs caught a pass.

Gulf Coast is back at home next week, with Copiah-Lincoln visiting Perk. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

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