CLEVELAND, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team held Delta State to their second-lowest offensive output of the season in a 27-3 loss on Saturday night at Parker Field at McCool Stadium.

The Choctaws (1-9, 0-7 GSC) capped off their first season back in the Gulf South Conference with the defeat, but a 27-yard field goal by junior Hunter Estess in the final seconds of the first half cut the Statesmen (9-1, 6-1 GSC) lead to 10-3 at halftime. MC rushed for 203 yards on 33 carries in the first half, led by freshman quarterback Kyle Smith with nine carries for 105 yards.

MC dominated the time of possession, holding on to the ball for nearly 38 minutes, including a 16-play, 74-yard drive that took up 10:29 of the second quarter. The 256 rushing yards was the second-highes total of the season behind the 276-yard output in the win over University of Faith.

Sophomore defensive back Reggie Bennett had his second-highest tackle total of the year with 17, giving him 97 on the season, including 66 solo stops. Freshman linebacker Kaleb Coleman had 12 tackles with one tackle for loss and a forced fumble.

Kyle Smith had a season-high 128 rushing yards on 17 carries, while junior Chris Ingram carried the ball 21 times for 79 yards.

Freshman punter Matthew Turcotte punted six times for an average 42.8 yards per kick, and is now MC's all-time single-season leader with 42.83 yards per punt this season on 38 kicks.

Delta State got on the board with their first drive as D'Juan Bellaire rushed in from eight yards out to take the 7-0 lead with 10:44 remaining in the first quarter. The MC defense held strong, not allowing another score from the high-powered Delta State offense until a 27-yard field goal with just under two minutes left in the first half.

The Statesmen also scored on their first possession of the second half and put 10 more points on the board to grab the 27-3 victory.

The Choctaws had 14 seniors play the final games of their career on Saturday night at McCool Stadium. Senior Dylan Klibert finished the night with three tackles and a tackle for loss, while senior quarterback Jonathon Redd had 16 rushing yards in his fourth start of the season.

The Choctaws will open the 2015 season on September 5th when they host Texas College at Robinson-Hale Stadium.