No. 3 Bulldogs lose in Decatur

DECATUR — No. 3 Mississippi Gulf Coast suffered its first loss of the season Thursday night here against East Central, falling 24-20.

"Give East Central credit," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "They made some critical plays, especially late in the game that kept drives going. You just have to their quarterbacks, their receivers, credit for making those plays in timely moments."

Gulf Coast is now 5-1, 3-1 in the MACCC South. East Central improves to 4-2, 2-1. The Bulldogs had won seven straight against the Warriors and 20 of 21 dating back to 2003.

Gulf Coast took the opening kickoff down the field for a quick score. Landon Varnes (Fr., Brandon/Brandon) hit JP Coulter (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) from 27 yards to cap a drive that took less than three minutes.

"We came out hot," Wright said. "We were running the football. We hit a big pass play on the first play of the game. We felt really good because we hadn't played in two weeks. When you're undefeated like we were before the game, you feel like you don't want to lose momentum. It kind of fizzled out and the pace of the game changed."

East Central responded with a field goal, and Brandon Hines (So., New Orleans, La./Northshore) returned the kickoff for a touchdown. It was called back by a penalty, however, the start of a recurring theme of mistakes and penalties.

The Warriors kicked a field goal after an interception, but the Regulators were able to hold them to a field goal.

Chandler Chapman (So., Bay St. Louis/St. Stanislaus) finished a long drive with a touchdown early in the second quarter. East Central answered with a touchdown drive of its own and trailed by one.

The Warriors won the field position battle on the next two possessions, pinning Gulf Coast deep. The Bulldogs were called for intentional grounding in the end zone, and trailed 15-14 going into the locker room.

"Our defense was on the field a long time," Wright said. "It seems to be a theme for whatever reason. We've got to get another stop and get off the field, but offensively we have to do a better job staying on the field. We've got to get some first downs, especially early in the game and get our defense off the field at more points during the game."

Gulf Coast outgained East Central 386-333, but the Warriors had the ball for nearly 10 more minutes. The Bulldogs threw three interceptions and had 11 penalties.

Gulf Coast missed a field late in the third quarter, and ECCC extended its lead to 21-14 after a long touchdown drive. They missed the extra point.

After a Bulldogs punt, the defense put East Central in a second-and-21 bind, but the Warriors hit a 40-yard bomb on the way to making it 24-14 with 5:19 to play.

Gulf Coast put together a long touchdown drive finished off by a Mason Beverly (Fr., Purvis/Purvis) 4-yard reception. It was a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took 3:14. The extra point failed, and the Bulldogs had to go for the onside kick. They nearly recovered, but East Central was able to eat up more time.

The Bulldogs got the ball back late and made one first down but nothing more.

"You're gonna go back and say if we'd done that or done this, and things that as coaches with decisions we made that we'd want back. That's always the case in a close game like this," Wright said. "That's the way it goes in close games. We just came out on the wrong end."

Gulf Coast can still claim its sixth-straight MACCC South title by winning its last three games. It's tied with Copiah-Lincoln at 3-1 and travels to Wesson to play the Wolves next week. That game will be televised on ESPN+.

"We're really disappointed about tonight, and we've been working on this game for two weeks with the bye week," Wright said. "We still have a chance to finish at the top of the division. Every one of our goals we set at the start of the season is still in front of us. We've got a good team, and we've got to get some confidence back. I know the makeup of our team, and I think we're going to be OK. We've got some rally talented guys, and we've got high-character guys."

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.