MDCC Mistakes Lead to Loss to Indians, 35-17

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September 26, 2024

By Mark H. Stowers

 

Too many early mistakes inside the red zone doomed the Trojans in a road loss to Itawamba Community College, 35-17. Head Coach Tavares Johnson Sr. wasn't happy with his team's performance.

"Four times. We got four times in the red zone. And we only scored once out of four," Coach Johnson said. "It's just a young team. We just gotta learn how to finish the people off. That's it in a nutshell. But they were ready to go and we just could not deliver a knockout goal for whatever reason."

After an interception gave them the ball deep in Indian territory at the 13-yard line, the Trojans got on the board first when sophomore Troy Griffin found Gerald Hanson for a 17-yard TD pass completing a four-play, 13-yard drive. The Trojans scored on a fourth and 14 to go gamble at the 17-yard line. Ceidrick Hunt's PAT made it 7-0 with 8:51 left in the first quarter. ICC answered with a two-play 66-yard drive that only took 32 seconds off the clock to tie it at 7-7 with 8:12 left in the first quarter.

The Trojans added three more on a Ciedrick Hunt 42-yard field goal to finish a seven-play, 50-yard drive that took 4:29 off the clock and a 10-7 lead into halftime. ICC scored first in the third quarter on a four-yard TD pass and PAT, 14-10. The three-play drive covered six yards after the Trojans had been called for illegal kicking penalties while trying to punt.

The Trojans found their offensive momentum again when Coach Johnson made a change at quarterback with Conner Whitson relieving Griffin and directing a five-play, 64-yard drive capped by Davion Alston catching a 42-yard TD pass from Whitson. Hunt hit the PAT to retake the lead 17-14.

The fourth quarter was Indians as they put up 21 points to put the game away, 35-17.

"We just got to learn how to finish things off," Coach Johnson said of the missed scoring opportunities. "We had them up against the ropes, we just got to be able to knock them out."

Early on the Trojan defensive line was all up in the Indian backfield but in the second half, they were shut down.

"The adjustment was 2 and 90 versus 225. They have an average size of 290 to 300 pounds on their offensive line. And 225 is the average size of my defense line. All it is is the lot of tonnage. Over three times," he said. "And the lack of depth that we had. I've been seeing all year long that we have some depth issues from both sides of the ball.

The Trojans now have a make-up game with Northeast that was canceled due to Hurricane Francine. The Tigers are 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the North Half of the MACCC. The Trojans are 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the North Half of the MACCC. But Coach Johnson is working to try and beat the one team he can't seem to get his team to win against.

"We are 0-3 versus Mississippi Deltas. We keep beating ourselves. We just gotta learn how not to keep beating ourselves."