#3 Bulldogs blank Southwest 28-0

PERKINSTON---On a night when lots of things weren't perfect, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College defense was awfully close to mistake free football in a 28-0 shut out win over Southwest. Its the first time Gulf Coast has held a team scoreless since a 41-0 blanking of East Central in 2012.

  "We're right where we need to be at this point in the season," said Gulf Coast head coach Chad Huff. "Our defense picked it up when we needed a lift."

  It's also the eighth straight win by Gulf Coast over Southwest dating back to 2007.

  The #3 ranked Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0) took their first possession of the game and cashed in with a 7-yard touchdown dart by Tevaris McCormick making it 7-0 with 6:00 left in the first quarter. On the team's next possession, starting quarterback Jason Smith left the game after suffering a sprained ankle. Freshman back up Thad Miller piloted the Gulf Coast offense the rest of the way. Miller tossed a touchdown pass but was also picked off three times on the night.

  "Thad came in and did fine," Huff added. "He made some mistakes, but that's part of the learning process."

  Miller's first touchdown pass was 4-yard toss to Tyrone Williams giving Gulf Coast a 14-0 halftime lead.

  The Bulldogs then took the second half kickoff and capitalized on a 6-yard TD run by Chris Robinson, making it 21-0 with 10:15 to go in the third quarter.

  Two minutes later, the game was suspended for 30 minutes due to lightning in the area. When play resumed, the Bulldog defense stopped Southwest (1-4, 1-3) on a fourth down attempt deep in Gulf Coast territory.

  "We came out of the lightning delay and got refocused quickly," said Bulldog linebacker Ian Magandy.

  A 43-yard TD dash by Robinson with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter set the final tally at 28-0. Robinson rushed for more than 150 yards on the evening.

 Gulf Coast has now won 11 straight regular season games dating back to last season.