Lovertich’s 6 TD passes pave way for big win

SUMMIT — Chance Lovertich threw for six touchdowns and the Mississippi Gulf Coast defense held Southwest to less than 200 yards in a dominant 56-7 victory Thursday at Hurst Stadium.

"We definitely played better in all three phases, so I'm pleased with that," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "Getting on a bus to play a tough South Division game, you're never going to say that's a small accomplishment."

The Bulldogs (4-2, 1-2 MACJC South) rolled up 514 total yards, and the offense benefited from a couple of Bears turnover forced by the stingy defense.

Gulf Coast got a 2-yard touchdown from Omni Wells (Fr., Moss Point/Moss Point) in the first quarter before exploding for 21 second-quarter points on three scoring passes from Lovertich (Fr., Jackson Prep/Brandon).

He hit Denzel Carter (Fr., Lakewood/St. Petersburg, Fla) for a 4-yarder, Mystikal McGhee (Fr., Booker T. Washington/Pensacola) for a 61-yarder, and Nick Brown (So., Stone/Wiggins) for a 15-yarder. Gulf Coast led 28-7 at half.

"I think we've been kind of run-oriented, and this week we tried to mix it up," Lovertich said. "They were bringing their safeties down, and that's when we were able to hit them."

He got three more in the third quarter. Brown caught touchdown passes of 65 and 11 yards before Perry Keyes (Fr., Taylorsville/Taylorsville) scored on a 25-yarder.

"If you look back on the first five games, we've been very efficient running the football," Wright said. "That forces teams to play you a certain way. There's some things we thought would be open, and those got called, and to Chance's credit, sometimes he got to the second and third progression."

Lovertich completed 26 of 31 passes for 394 yards. Brown caught four passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns, and Sedevyn Gray (So., Puckett/Puckett) had four for 70 yards.

Terrion Avery (So., Stone/Wiggins) had 79 yards on 14 attempts, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

Southwest (1-5, 0-4) managed just 106 rushing yards with its triple-option attack, and their lone scoring drive in the second quarter was aided by a fourth-down offside and a pair of personal foul penalties.

"We just came out and worked real hard this week in practice," linebacker Corey Proctor said. "We knew they were going to be a tough offense, and we knew we needed to get a division win. We were going to do whatever it took."

Gulf Coast returns to A.L. May Memorial Stadium next week when East Central visits. Kickoff on Thursday is set for 7 p.m.

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