CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team will welcome West Florida to Clinton for the first time when they host the Argonauts on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off at Robinson-Hale Stadium is scheduled for 2:04 p.m. (CT).

Saturday will be "Fallen Military Heroes Day" in Clinton, as Mississippi College, in conjunction with Survivor Outreach Services", will recognize and honor the families of fallen soldiers from around the area prior to the game and at halftime.

For the second straight week, the Choctaws (2-3, 0-3 GSC) will be featured as the Florida's Space Coast GSC-TV Game of the Week on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. MC traveled to Cleveland last Thursday, falling to rival Delta State 61-31 in their first appearance of the season.

This will be the Argonauts' (3-2, 1-1 GSC) first appearance on ESPN3 this season with their second being a home game against Shorter on October 22nd.

This will be the first-ever meeting between MC and UWF as this is West Florida's first season to have a football program.

The Choctaws are led by head coach John Bland, who is in his 3rd season at the helm. The former Arkansas quarterback has led MC to a 2-1 record at Robinson-Hale Stadium this season.

Despite the loss to DSU last week, the MC offense was on full display, posting 557 yards of total offense, which is the most for a Choctaw team since 2007. Senior QB Sharone Wright piled up 367 yards of offense on his own, passing for 260 with 107 rushing yards. He also accounted for four touchdowns with two through the air and two on the ground.

Senior WR Marcel Newson tallied a career-high 192 receiving yards on six catches, including an 83-yard touchdown catch, the longest since Jake Allen hauled in a 95-yard score on September 23, 2006. The Coldwater native leads the GSC with 167.2 all-purpose yards per contest.

Senior DB Chris Manning had a career-high 16 tackles on Thursday night against DSU, including 12 solo stops. He now leads the team with 39 tackles through the first five games of the season.

Junior DB Steven Bradley, who left the Delta State game with an injury, ranks 2nd on the team with 34 tackles. Bradley was carted off the field in the third quarter, but is expected to be back on the field in the next couple weeks.

Senior DL JaQarius Scott has a team-high 3.0 tackles for loss and a sack on the season. Sophomore LB Kaleb Coleman has 16 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

On special teams, junior Matthew Turcotte (38.6 avg.) ranks 3rd in the GSC in punting average and is tied for the conference-lead with a long punt of 62 yards. Junior Matt Brasher is 5-of-7 on field goals this season, including nailing the 37-yard game-winner as time expired in the win over Cumberland (TN).

The Argos are led by head coach Pete Shinnick in his first year as the head man. In his 15th total year, he has been the head coach at UNC Pembroke and Azusa Pacific.

UWF is coming off a 42-39 win over nationally-ranked Florida Tech last Saturday. The Argos jumped out to a 21-7 and 42-24 lead before holding off a late charge by the Panthers to grab their first-ever GSC win.

The Argos are averaging 462.4 yards of total offense per game, which ranks 2nd in the Gulf South Conference. They lead the league with 383.0 passing yards per contest and 18 touchdowns through the air.

Valdosta State graduate transfer Kaleb Nobles is the signal-caller for the high-powered, averaging 346.8 passing yards per game. He has topped 300 passing yards in each of the last four games, including a season-high 503 in the win over Missouri S&T on September 10th.

Junior WR Ishmel Morrow leads the team with 41 catches for 665 yards with four scores, while senior WR Anas Hasic has a team-high six touchdowns on 23 catches for 457 yards.

Defensively, LB Joshua Smiley (43 tkls) and DB Trent Archie (42 tkls) are the leading tacklers. John Williamson leads the team with 7.5 tackles for loss, while Andre Duncombe has 7.0 TFL, and the two are tied for the team-lead with 5.0 sacks.

Andrew Bogaenko is the reigning GSC Special Teams Player of the Week and ranks 2nd in the league with 39.5 yards per punt. Austin Peffers is 2-of-6 on field goals this season with a long of 37 yards.

Mississippi College is a private Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. MC is recently finished their transition process back to NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference and will be competing for conference and national championships in the 2016-17 academic year.
 
The athletic department sponsors 17 intercollegiate athletic programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Football, Golf, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball.
 
For more information on Mississippi College athletics, please contact David Nichols at 601-925-3234 or nichols@mc.edu
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