No. 8 Bulldogs beat Hinds in opener

No. 8 Mississippi Gulf Coast learned Friday what that "8" is likely to mean. The Bulldogs traveled to Raymond for their season opener to play Hinds and left with a 3-1 victory that was by no means as cut and dried as the score might indicate.

"I think the boys will have to get used to the fact that because they're ranked, whether they should be in that spot or not, people are going to give them their best shot," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "I think that's what we saw tonight. Hinds played really, really hard. They took it to us early."

Fabien Barker (Fr., Madison/Madison Central) scored all three goals for Gulf Coast. He scored the opener off a long throw-in, but Hinds equalized in the final five minutes of the half.

Barker scored on another long throw in the second half, then later picked up the ball on the left side, cut in and buried a shot for the final margin.

"We played like it was our first game," Handy said. "The first half was a bit hectic. We scored first, but then we were kind of chasing them the rest of the half. The second half, we carried the game."

Gulf Coast has another road game Thursday with a trip to Ridgeland. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

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