#7 MGCCC blows out Northwest 63-7

PERKINSTON---Coaches usually say football teams make the most improvement between their first and second games of the season.

   If that's the case, then Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is a team to be reckoned with after a 63-7 hammering of Northwest Thursday. The #7 Bulldogs (2-0) once again opened up a big halftime lead and never looked back.

  "I thought the guys played with passion and discipline," said Bulldogs first year head coach Chad Huff. "We made some huge improvements since last week, and I'm proud of the way the team answered the challenge. We came out fast once again on both sides of the ball."

   That fast start came with a 72-yard run back of the opening kickoff by Tavaris McCormick. Two plays later, quarterback Jason Smith took over the game with the first of his four rushing touchdowns, this one coming from 8 yards out to make it 7-0 less than a minute into the contest.

  Eight minutes later, Smith hooked up with running back Rod Williams on a 19-yard touchdown pass to up the lead to 14-0. The play was set up by a 33-yard punt return by Tony Bridges. A 34-yard pass from Smith to McCormick set up the next score, a 7-yard TD scamper by Smith making it 21-0 Bulldogs.

   "Jason was outstanding tonight," Huff said. "He was in command of the offense and made some huge plays for us."

   Smith, a University of Auburn commit, ran for two more scores in the second quarter, one from 20 yards and another from 11. In between he hooked up with Tyrone Williams on a 17-yard TD pass, giving smith 11 carries for 107 yards and 4 TD'S on the ground and 9-13 through the air for 120 yards and 2 scores. Northwest's (0-2) only score of the evening came on a 70-yard bomb from Karsten Miller to Jacob McCrary midway through the second quarter.

  "Other than that one long play, I thought our defense played with tremendous effort and intensity," Huff added.

  Gulf Coast extended its 42-7 halftime lead in the second half on three touchdown runs. Freshman Preston Dedeaux scored from 3 yards out in the third quarter, followed by freshman Chris Robinson's two TD'S in the fourth quarter. His first was an 11-yarder at the beginning of the final period. His second TD was a 64-yard blast right up the middle to set the final tally at 63-7.

  The Bulldogs racked up 455 yards of total offense, with 296 coming on the ground. The defense chipped in with four sacks and an interception.

  "We just work on getting better every day and working hard as a team," said sophomore safety Braden Byrd, who had a sack and the team's interception.

MGCCC'S Justin Evans upends Northwest's Devante Crow on a kickoff return Sept. 4.