No. 6 Bulldogs stifle Delta

MOORHEAD — Under a steady rain almost all night, No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast ground down Mississippi Delta 43-7 Thursday night at Jim Randall Stadium.

The Bulldogs piled up 483 yards in a balanced offensive attack. Perhaps most impressively, the Trojans managed only 99 total yards. That’s an impressive feat against any opponent. 

“It is,” Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. “Anytime you can keep the numbers that low in college football is an accomplishment with the way teams spread it out and throw, RPOs, option football. They’re going to be things that are difficult to stop. At the end, we were playing really good defense.” 

Gulf Coast won its second straight game to open the season, handing Delta its second loss.

The Bulldogs led 14-0 after the first quarter, scoring on a 34-yard pass from Landon Varnes (Fr., Brandon/Brandon) to Tyler Henderson (Fr., Vicksburg/Vicksburg) early and a 24-yard reception by JP Coulter (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) on the last play.

“We came out throwing the ball really well,” Wright said. “I thought we looked really sharp. The surface was good, the ball was dry and Landon was sharp. We weren’t perfect, but we hit some throws. They did a good job adjusting. What we hit them with early was not there in the second half. We should have adjusted quicker and started running the ball more.”

Delta cut the lead in half midway through the second quarter, but the Regulators scored on their own. They got a tackle in the end zone by Chris Burton (So., Bogue Chitto/Parklane Academy) for a safety with 6:14 to play, but almost immediately wound up having to make a goal-line stand after an interception and long return. The Bulldogs repelled the Trojans three times and then watched the field-goal attempt sail wide.

It was the second time in the game the Bulldogs had given up interceptions that set up red zone possessions. The Regulators were up the task.

“We do that in practice every day,” said linebacker Montrell Chapman (So., Batesville/South Panola). “The offense gives us a good look every day during red zone in practice. We’re confident in ourselves down there.”

The Bulldogs tacked on another score with a textbook two-minute drive, going 57 yards in the final minute to score on Henderson’s second score from 12 yards.

Trey Hall (So., Vicksburg/Warren Central) expanded the lead to 30-7 with a 4-yard run in the third quarter. He ran 13 times for 73 yards, averaging 5.6 yards per carry, the same as Chandler Chapman (So., Bay St. Louis/St. Stanislaus) who had 84 yards to lead the rush attack.

The Bulldogs finished with 289 yards on the ground, averaging 6.0 yards.

“We wanted to run the ball, hit the ground hard,” Hall said. “We wanted to run them out of the Cover 2. Our offensive line played really well tonight.”

Peyton Floyd (Fr., Trussville, Ala./Hewitt-Trussville) threw his first collegiate touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. Aydan Morgan (So., Gautier/Gautier) caught the 7-yard pass.

Brandon Hines (So., New Orleans, La./Northshore) closed out the scoring with a 13-yard scamper with 10:12 to play.

“It was a solid performance by our O-line,” Wright said. “Our backs ran really hard. The thing I really love about our backs is they’re always twisting, turning, getting more yards. They get a lot of hard yards, and that’s really pleasing to see.”

The Bulldogs will finally get a home game Sept. 12 when No. 11 Jones visits A.L. May Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The matchup always plays a big part in determining MACCC South supremacy, and the Bobcats come into it with wins over Delta and Coahoma.

“It’s a bunch of great players,” he said. “They do a fantastic job recruiting. They’re big, strong, fast and well coached. I can’t say enough good things about them. It’ll be a war like it always is with Jones. We’ll have to get ready this week to play them.”

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