SUMMIT — You might have thought it was Independence Day here at Hurst Stadium on Thursday with all the fireworks. There were defensive fireworks, offensive fireworks and special teams fireworks.
At the end of the night, they were all Navy and Gold colored, with No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast beating Southwest Mississippi 55-36.
The Bulldogs stayed unbeaten in their fourth game of the season and second in the MACCC South. They are tied atop the division with Pearl River at 2-0 after Jones beat Copiah-Lincoln on Thursday night.
The Regulators forced four first-half turnovers and scored the first points of the game on a scoop-and-score by Marcus Washington (So., D’Iberville/D’Iberville). They helped the Bulldogs build up a 27-7 first-half lead and held up despite being on the field for 90 plays.
“The good thing is we have a lot of guys who can play,” Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. “We got down deep in the roster. All those guys play a lot of snaps. We don’t have 1’s and 2’s on defense, we just have a bunch of Regulators.”
Washington had two fumble recoveries and an interception he returned 57 yards.
“It’s the best game I ever played,” he said.
Montrell Chapman (So., Batesville/South Panola) finished with 10 tackles, and Javen Gibson (So., Church Point La./Church Point) had eight tackles, including 3.5 for losses and a sack.
Damani Dent (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla./Terry Parker) had eight tackles and broke up a pass. Damaryion Fillmore (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) had an interception.
Landon Varnes (Fr., Brandon/Brandon) threw three first-half touchdowns, scoring them on drives that combined for nine plays. That’s one of the things that helped contribute to the large number of Southwest plays.
Varnes finished 16-of-24 for 224 yards and four touchdowns. JP Coulter (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) caught three passes for 45 yards and two scores, and Tyler Henderson (Fr., Vicksburg/Vicksburg) led the deep receiving corps with 68 yards on three catches with a touchdown. Jeremiah Foxworth (Fr., Columbia/Columbia) had a 23-yard touchdown catch, as well.
Ten different Bulldogs caught passes.
“We had a really good week throwing the ball, and not any particular concept or any particular route,” Wright said. “After every practice, we felt like we did a good job passing. It held up all week, and I think that carried over tonight in the passing game. Landon throwing it on time, being accurate, making good decisions, is a big part of that. Our receivers made plays, and there’s weren’t a lot of dropped balls. They’re in the right spot, running crisp routes and getting separation. There’s some chemistry developing between our quarterbacks and our receivers.”
Trey Hall (So., Vicksburg/Warren Central) provided the flashiest play in the running game. The Bulldogs were back up deep in their own end, facing a third-and-8. Wright saw a lot of defensive backs subbing into the game and decided to feed Hall, hoping for a first down.
Hall got that and a lot more, bursting through an undermanned front and into the secondary. He left a host of would-be tacklers in his wake, polishing off the fourth-longest run in school history in the other end zone.
“We caught them in a light box,” Wright said. “I’ve had that happen before in that situation, but probably not for 93 yards.”
Hall ran 11 times for 163 yards as the Bulldogs put up 264 yards on the ground. Chandler Chapman had nine rushes for 40 yards, and Connor Brown ran for 57 yards in the fourth quarter, including a 26-yard touchdown.
Brandon Hines (So., New Orleans, La./Northshore) got the big play on special teams, running back a kick 90 yards for a score. It immediately answered a Southwest score midway through the third quarter that cut the lead down to 27-14.
“It was set up perfectly,” he said. “They had it blocked up, and I hit the middle and just took it home.”
Gulf Coast’s biggest rival is next up, and Pearl River will visit A.L. May Memorial Stadium off to a 3-1 start. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. next Thursday.
“They’ll have their act together and they’ve won some games this year,” Wright said. “It’ll be a challenge. Every time we tee off, we’ve got a target on our back.”
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