JUCO football roundup: Anderson throws five TD passes as Gulf Coast crushes East Mississippi in Top 10 showdown
Published 3:23 pm Friday, September 29, 2023
The biggest game on the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges schedule this week turned out to be no contest.
Eli Anderson threw five touchdown passes against his former team, including three to Jay Dupree, and No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College routed No. 6 East Mississippi 42-17 on Thursday.
Anderson completed 18 of 32 passes for 273 yards, and ran for a 9-yard touchdown as well.
Dupree had five receptions for 130 yards. He caught two touchdown passes as Gulf Coast (4-0) built a 14-point lead at halftime, then added a 61-yarder in the third quarter to make it 28-10.
Kionte Curry had two of Gulf Coast’s three interceptions.
East Mississippi (2-2) quarterback Ty Keyes was 15-of-40 passing for 168 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran for 27 yards and one TD. Cam Wright caught six passes for 96 yards.
Hinds 24, Pearl River 21, OT
Tanner Hollingsworth kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime to complete Hinds Community College’s come-from-behind victory against Pearl River Community College (0-5, 0-1 MACCC South).
Hinds scored 17 unanswered points after falling behind 21-7 midway through the second quarter. Dustin Allison threw two touchdown passes to Marquis McCoy and Deandre Shorts returned a blocked punt 10 yards to give Pearl River its lead.
Jerrell Boyd scored on runs of 3 and 2 yards in the second half to tie it for Hinds (3-2, 2-0). Boyd finished with 33 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Vernorrius Chaney intercepted a pass in the end zone on Pearl River’s overtime possession, and then Hinds won it with Hollingsworth’s field goal.
Copiah-Lincoln 29, Southwest Mississippi 21
Tray Minor ran for 55 yards and two touchdowns, Jaylen Smith caught nine passes for 103 yards and a TD, and Copiah-Lincoln Community College (3-1, 1-1 MACCC South) held off a comeback bid by Southwest Mississippi (1-3, 0-2).
A 31-yard touchdown pass from Will Loy to Johnnie Daniels put Co-Lin ahead 29-7 with 7:29 left in the second quarter. Southwest Mississippi rallied with a blocked punt return touchdown by Tyler Reed and a 5-yard TD by Amarien Jefferson to get back within a score with 10:01 left in the third quarter, but neither team scored again.
Jefferson, Southwest’s quarterback, was 19-of-37 passing for 165 yards and three interceptions. He also ran for a team-high 57 yards and a touchdown. Cornerback Nicholas Mickey, a Vicksburg High product, had one solo tackle.
Co-Lin kicker Brandon Gilliam, a Warren Central alum, was 3-for-3 on PATs.
Jones College 38, East Central 7
Trent Howell rushed for 127 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 11 Jones College (3-1, 2-0 MACCC South) past East Central Community College (1-3, 0-2).
Omar Johnson added 77 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries for Jones, which piled up 240 rushing yards as a team. All four of Howell’s touchdowns came from inside the 5-yard line.
Northwest Mississippi 38, Itawamba 13
Keegan Patterson completed 20 of 35 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jarnorris Hopson, and No. 12 Northwest Mississippi (3-1, 1-0 MACCC North) easily defeated Itawamba Community College (0-4, 0-2).
Hopson had seven receptions for 124 yards, with his two touchdowns both coming in the first quarter and covering 36 and 30 yards.
E.J. Wadley returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown for Itawamba, and Keegan Stover threw a 13-yard TD pass to T.J. Atkins. Itawamba only had 139 yards of total offense, while Northwest finished with 469.
Holmes 58, Coahoma 14
Deion Smith caught four passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns, and J.J. Grant scored two rushing touchdowns as Holmes Community College (3-1, 1-1 MACCC North) destroyed Coahoma Community College (1-3, 0-2).
Joe Moss added 80 rushing yards and a TD for Holmes, while Deriaun Townsend had 79 and one TD. Grant finished with 37 rushing yards on six carries. Six players scored a touchdown for Holmes.
The Bulldogs scored three touchdowns and added a safety off of a bad punt snap to jump out to a 23-0 lead six minutes into the game.
Coahoma had only 172 yards of total offense and committed four turnovers. Its quarterbacks were sacked seven times. Starter Jackson Allen was 12-of-31 passing for 173 yards, with no touchdowns and three interceptions.
Former Warren Central star Jashun Simon had four solo tackles for Coahoma, and his high school teammate Logan Myles had one assist.
Northeast Mississippi 40, Mississippi Delta 0
Five different players scored touchdowns in a balanced effort for Northeast Mississippi (4-0, 2-0 MACCC North), which remained undefeated by hammering Mississippi Delta (1-3, 1-1).
Northeast Mississippi used two interceptions, a blocked field goal and a blocked punt to set up the offense with short fields throughout the first half, and built a 31-0 lead by halftime. The blocked punt was returned 9 yards for a touchdown by Keaton Thomas early in the second quarter.
Northeast had a modest 272 yards of total offense for the game, and no player had more than 34 rushing yards.
Former Warren Central standout Malik Sims was a bright spot for Mississippi Delta. The linebacker had five total tackles and one interception.