Trojans Drop Season Opener 33-0

Trojans Drop Season Opener 33-0

By Mark H. Stowers

Moorhead, MS – Sheets of rain on Sandy Wilson Field/Jim Randall Stadium accompanied the kickoff of the 2025 season for the Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans. The inaugural season opener for new Head Coach Ernest Jones

Jones took the opening kickoff to their own 35-yard line. The first play was a 44-yard pass to get deep in MDCC territory. Four plays later, the Bobcats took the lead on a 10-yard TD run by Ky'Yon Harris. The PAT was good and Jones led 7-0, taking only 2:27 off the first quarter clock.

The Trojan offense had a three-and-out on its first series and punted back to the Bobcats, where they started drive #2 at their own 45-yard line. Six plays later, Harris picked up his second touchdown of the night on a two-yard run, taking a 14-0 lead and only taking 2:48 off the clock. The Bobcats had two-22 22-yard pass completions in the drive.

After another stalled drive and Trojan punt, the Bobcats ran off 57 yards on 10 plays, but the Trojan defense stood tall and thwarted the drive when Jones went for a fourth and goal at the three-yard line for no gain.

Two possessions later, the Bobcats would add more points to the scoreboard when an eight-play drive stalled at the Trojan eight-yard line. Jones converted the 35-yard field goal to take a 17-0 lead. The Bobcats added a touchdown, capping a five-play, 62-yard drive, taking 2:29 off the second quarter clock. A missed PAT gave Jones a 23-0 lead with 4:22 left before halftime.

The Trojans failed to score in the second half, and Jones added a touchdown in the third, a two-play, 97-yard drive consisting of a four-yard rush followed by a 93-yard TD pass. That made it 30-0. Then in the fourth, the Bobcats added a 25-yard field goal on a fourth and four at the MDCC six-yard line. That made it 33-0 with 8:32 left in the game. The drive consisted of nine plays covering 46 yards.

Statistically, Jones College had 20 first downs and piled up 464 yards over 62 offensive plays. The Bobcats had 256 yards passing on 10-17 attempts and rushed for 208 yards on 45 attempts.

The Trojans' side of the stat ledger wasn't pretty, with only three first downs on the night and 30 total yards of offense over 46 plays. Trojan quarterbacks (Evans Schippers 2-for-2 for 19 yards and Caden Clark 6-for-20 for nine yards) were only 8-22 passing for 28 yards. The ground game garnered only two yards on 24 rushes. MDCC had six penalties for 64 yards, which took away some of the bigger offensive plays.

Trojan punter Ceidrick Hunt had a busy night punting 11 times for 480 yards for a 43.6-yard average. The Trojans fumbled three times and lost one and gave up two sacks losing nine yards.

On defense, the Trojans were led by Jaquian Payton and Stanley Burrow, who had seven tackles each. Three Trojans – Jermaine McRoy, Javen Mallett and Za'Bauri Chandler each had five total tackles.

The Trojans travel to Perkinston to take on Gulf Coast Community College on Thursday, September 4, at 7:00 p.m.