CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team dropped their "Homecoming" game to Florida Tech on Saturday, 31-14.

The Choctaws (2-5, 0-4 GSC) fell behind 14-0 after the first quarter but got on the board in the opening minutes of the second as senior quarterback Raymond Cotton bounced off a pile of tacklers and score from six yards out to cut the score to 14-7.

The Panthers (5-3, 3-1 GSC) would hit a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter and take a 17-7 lead into the halftime break.

After a couple of punts to open the second half, FIT broke through with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Mark Cato to Kenny Johnston. Cato threw for 255 yards and three scores, while Johnston caught three passes for 77 yards and two scores.

As the Choctaws trailed 24-7, they would turn the ball over on downs twice in Panther territory, attempting to cut into the lead.

After the second turnover, Cato again found Johnston for a 36-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 31-7 with 11:22 to go in the game.



On MC's next possession, MC drove 75 yards on 11 plays, and junior Marcel Newson caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Walker Meadows to cut the lead to 31-14.

Newson caught seven passes for 145 yards and a score, giving him six touchdown receptions on the season. That is the most in a single season for a Choctaw since DeMarrion Buford-Hughes caught eight scoring passes in the 2011 season.

Meadows earned his first career start in the game and passed for 194 yards and a touchdown. He also had 22 rushing yards in the game, inclduing a 12-yard run on 4th-and-3 to extend MC's second scoring drive.

Following the touchdown pass from Meadows to Newson, the Panthers were able to run out the final seven minutes with a 13-play drive.

Senior D'Andre Coleman, junior Reggie Bennett and freshman Rondaius Johnson led MC with six tackles apiece, while junior Carl Rainey Jr. had a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss in the contest.

The Choctaws will be at home again next Saturday when they will host #2 West Georgia at 3:00 p.m. at Robinson-Hale Stadium.