National title game participants sport strong resumes
PITTSBURG, Kansas — The two teams that will meet here at Carnie Smith Stadium on Thursday for the NJCAA Football Championship are the only two teams in the country without a loss.
Heck, it's the only two teams in the country without two losses.
"The NJCAA got two of the top teams in the country that have been battle-tested," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "There's a lot of good teams, but we're the ones who have not lost a game, and I think that makes both of us deserving of this."
The teams kick off Thursday at 5 p.m. in a game that will be telecast nationally by CBS Sports Network. The MGCCC radio broadcast can be heard at SuperTalk 103.1-FM or only at https://livestream.com/MGCCCBulldogs/events/8915122.
Gulf Coast and Lackawanna have each played four teams that finished the season in the NJCAA Rankings Top 20, obviously each picking up four wins.
The Bulldogs beat No. 11 Jones 20-14 on Sept. 14, No. 8 Hinds 31-21 on Oct. 24 and then two more in the MACJC playoffs. They beat No. 16 East Mississippi 31-7 in the semifinals at Perkinston on Nov. 2, and won the state championship at No. 5 Northwest 22-19 at Senatobia on Nov. 9.
Lackawanna won 17-6 at No. 14 Snow on Sept. 14, 17-10 at No. 15 ASA Brooklyn on Oct. 5, and 30-17 at No. 18 Monroe College on Oct. 12. The Falcons' last game was a 37-30 win over No. 12 Georgia Military at Scranton, Pa.
That stretched the nation's longest active winning streak to 22 games, dating back to Nov. 12, 2017. The Falcons defeated Georgia Military 41-34 to launch the streak. Their last loss was Oct. 28, 2017, a 24-0 defeat at DuPage.
Lackawanna is scoring an average of 42.4 points and giving up 13.6 points during the streak.
Gulf Coast has the second-longest win streak at 15 games, which started with a 56-7 win at Southwest Mississippi on Oct. 4, 2018. The Bulldogs' last loss was Sept. 27, a 38-16 loss to Copiah-Lincoln in Perkinston.
Gulf Coast is scoring 35.4 points and allowing 12.5 points per game.
"These two teams have separated ourselves over the course of the season to get where we're at," Wright said. "Give credit to them, and also credit to us. I'm just honored this has a true national championship feel to it because of what both teams have accomplished this year."
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