CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team will close out their non-conference schedule by hosting Cumberland (TN) on Saturday night at Robinson-Hale Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

The Choctaws (1-2) are coming off back-to-back Gulf South Conference losses to Florida Tech and West Alabama after a 28-16 season-opening win over Point on September 3rd.

The Phoenix (1-2) dropped their first two games of the season to nationally-ranked NAIA teams in Lindsey Wilson and Georgetown (KY), but bounced back with a 17-14 win over rival Cumberlands (KY) last weekend.

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools, and MC has not faced an opponent from the "Volunteer State" since 56-0 win over Bethel (TN) in 1998.

Head coach John Bland leads the Choctaws in his third season at the helm, and the former Cumberlands (KY) coach is very familiar with the Phoenix team and staff. The former Arkansas signal-caller won five Mid-South Conference championships in eight years in the NAIA program.

Donnie Suber is the fourth-year head coach for Cumberland (TN), posting a 17-19 record over his first 3+ seasons.

Senior quarterback Sharone Wright leads the MC offensive attack, averaging 236.0 yards of total offense a game. Against UWA, Wright passed for a career-high 285 yards and rushed for 66 more.

Senior wide receiver Marcel Newson is the team's top receiving threat, catching 18 passes for 251 yards so far this year, including eight catches for 152 yards against UWA. Sophomore Colt Freeman has caught eight passes for 53 yards and a touchdown last week against the Tigers.

Defensively, junior Chris Manning and sophomore Mike Hall lead thee team with 16 tackles apiece, while senior JaQarius Scott has a team-high 3.0 tackles for loss.

Sophomore Kaleb Coleman has been making plays in his first season back after missing 2015 with an injury. He has 2.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.

Dezmon Huntley paces the Phoenix offense, leading the team in both rushing (85.0 ypg) and passing (176.5). However, last week against Cumberlands (KY), Justin Snyder took all the snaps and completed 17-of-27 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown in the win.

Michael Green leads the team in receptions (15), receiving yards (314), receiving touchdowns (2), punt return yards (21) and kick return yards (174).

Defensively, Nathan Jernigan is the top tackler with 33 stops and 2.0 tackles for loss after three games.

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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