No. 9 Bulldogs wear down Warriors

PERKINSTON — No. 9 Mississippi Gulf Coast has gotten used to having to gut it out for four quarters, and that tenacity let the Bulldogs pull away for a 31-13 victory over East Central on Thursday at A.L. May Memorial Stadium.

Cam Thomas (So., Picayune/Picayune) rushed for 185 yards, Jashon Baker (So., Tylertown/Tylertown) had a pick-six and Gulf Coast scored 17 fourth-quarter points.

"Our kids are conditioned now to fight four quarters, and that's a good feeling," Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. "We're going to play the full game and give great effort. That's what we did tonight, and I'm just proud of their effort. It's been great all year."

The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1 MACCC South) stayed a half-game in front of Hinds for second in the division. East Central (2-4, 2-2) dropped into a fourth-place tie with Copiah-Lincoln. Gulf Coast has won five straight in the series and 18 of the last 19.

Gulf Coast trailed 10-7 at halftime, but came out and put together a long drive that ended on a fourth-down play at the ECCC 4-yard line. The Regulators forced a three-and-out, and the resulting short field set up perfectly for the offense.

Philip Short (So., Flowood/Madison-Ridgeland Academy) hit Micah McGowan (So., Petal/Petal) for a 35-yard swing pass and a 14-10 lead.

The next Gulf Coast drive was a long one, spanning 12 plays. Short hit Rico Dorsey (Fr., Hattiesburg/Presbyterian Christian) for his third touchdown pass of the night, this time from the 5.

"I think we came out running the football better in the second half," Wright said. "That made life easier on the quarterback because he was able to look out there and see where his one-on-ones were. We just didn't execute enough plays (in the first half) in a row to score touchdowns, but I think we turned the corner on that in the second half."

Dylan Wasson (Fr., Madison/Germantown) nailed a 31-yard field goal to make it 24-13, and on the next play from scrimmage, Baker sat back in zone coverage.

"On the previous drive, he threw the same pass," the sophomore defensive back said. "When he came back to it, I sat on the route. After that, I was just looking for my Dogs to block."

He ran it back 45 yards for the final score to punctuate another strong defensive performance. Gulf Coast held East Central under 200 yards total offense, and the Warriors converted only 1 of 14 third downs.

"They come to play," Wright said. "They'll give up a play here and there, but they always respond. Through the first six games, we've put them in some tight spots. They've been backed up at the beginning of some drives because of special teams play or the offense, but they've responded every time." 

Thomas showed tremendous intestinal fortitude. A passenger in the car wreck that claimed the life of teammate Levi Madison two weeks ago, the running back played after sitting out the previous week with a banged-up knee.

He carried the ball 34 times for the Bulldogs behind an offensive line that was a little patched together because of injuries and a suspension for Percy Lewis after he was ejected against Hinds. He'll return next week.

"They were opening big holes," Thomas said. "When you get 185 yards, that means the O-line is going their job. They were trying to stop our outside zone plays."

The Bulldogs had nearly 10 minutes more possession than the Warriors.

Gulf Coast squares off against Northwest Mississippi next week in a rematch of the last two MACCC championship games. 

"We've got to get to work Sunday," Baker said. "We'll come back Sunday and it will be a grit-and-grind week. We know we've got a big game next week."

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