CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team will be back on the road this Friday when they travel to Pensacola to face West Florida. The game was moved up 24 hours due to the threat of hurricane conditions this weekend. Kick-off is set for 6:00 p.m. at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
 
The Choctaws (0-5, 0-3 GSC) and the Argonauts (3-1, 1-1 GSC) will meet for just the second time as UWF is in their second season as a program. Last season, the Argos came to Clinton and jumped out to a 26-7 lead before holding on for a 42-28 victory. Chris Manning returned an interception for a touchdown, while Khiran Williams passed for over 250 yards in the loss.
 
Head coach John Bland leads the Choctaws in his fourth season at the helm, improving MC's win total in each of his first three years. MC is coming off a 30-17 loss to #9 Delta State that saw freshman Darius Young earn Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week honors after setting a school record with 194 kickoff return yards. The difference in the game came from the Statesmen scoring 17 points off four MC turnovers.
 
Head coach Pete Shinnick is in his second season as the only head coach in West Florida history. In the Argos' last contest, GSC Special Teams Player of the Week Austin Williams hit a 44-yard field goal as time expired to pick up a 23-21 win at Florida Tech.
 

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WHEN MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE HAS THE BALL
 
Despite the four turnovers leading to 17 Delta State points, the Choctaws had one of their most impressive outings on the offensive side of the ball, rushing for 108 yards on a team that was allowing 49.3 per contest. Junior Tiberias Lampkin carried the ball 13 times for 67 yards, while freshman Aaron Feazelle had 47 rushing yards, including a four-yard score.
 
Lampkin is MC's top rusher this season with 272 yards on 55 carries, while junior Alizee Chubbs has run the ball five times for 121 yards. Junior Ty Jobe is completing 52% of his passes for 572 yards and two scores, while rushing for 48 yards and three scores.
 
Sophomore Nathan Faciane had a big game against Delta State, catching six passes for 96 yards and tossing a touchdown pass to senior Christian Keene to cut the score to 20-17 in the third quarter. Faciane has a team-high 14 catches for 276 yards and ranks 8th in the GSC in yards per catch (19.7) and receiving yards per game (55.2).
 
The Argos' defense is holding opponents to just 125.0 rushing yards per contest with an average of 3.5 yards per carry. They are allowing just 22.5 points per game, but opponents have scored 12-of-13 times when in the red zone.
 
Josh Marshall is the team's leading tackler with 33 stops to go along with a team-high two interceptions. Joshua Smiley leads the team with 4.0 tackles for loss while sitting second on the squad with 27 tackles.
 
Reggie Barnes, Andre Duncombe and Stephen Mathews have each tallied 2.0 sacks on the year, while five different Argos have forced fumbles through four games.
 

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WHEN WEST FLORIDA HAS THE BALL
 
The Choctaw defense ranks third in the league with three interceptions this season, including Chris Manning picking off his seventh career pass against Delta State. Junior Colton Magee returned one for a score in the season opener against Clark Atlanta.
 
Manning is the team's top tackler with 29 stops, while Magee, senior Steven Bradley and junior Kaleb Coleman each have 28 tackles apiece. Bradley leads the team with 19 solo stops and three pass breakups.
 
Senior Kris Reliford has a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss, while senior Carl Rainey Jr. and junior Preston Reed have recorded a sack. Sophomore Julian Charles tallied 2.0 TFL and a sack against Delta State.
 
The Argos sport a pass-heavy offense, rushing for just 93.5 yards per contest on the year. Quarterback Mike Beaudry has thrown for 833 yards and seven touchdowns, while rushing for 18 yards and a score.
 
Chris Schwarz is the team's leading rusher with 217 yards on 61 carries and three touchdowns. Antoine Griffin has a team-high 16 catches for 276 yards, while Ka'Ron Ashley leads the way with three touchdown catches.
 

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SPECIAL TEAMS
 
Darius Young continually put the Choctaws in good scoring position against Delta State with three kickoff returns of over 50 yards. He is currently averaging 30.1 yards per kickoff return and leads the league with 452 total kick return yards.
 
Senior Matthew Turcotte ranks 4th in the league in average yards per punt (38.7), landing five punts inside the 20-yard line and forcing a league-high seven fair catches.
 
Junior Greg Nickles has hit 4-of-8 field goals with a long of 33 yards this season, while senior Matt Brasher is averaging 57.2 yards per kickoff with one touchback on the year.
 
For the Argonauts, Austin Williams has made 8-of-9 field goals with a long of 44, including the game-winner against Florida Tech. He has also kicked seven touchbacks with 61.4 yards per kickoff.
 
Colton Norris has punted 23 times this season with a long of 55 yards and averaging 39.2 yards per kick. He has landed five punts inside the 20-yard line and forced five fair catches.
 

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GAME NOTES
 
The Choctaws have played 11 previous times on October 7th in their 106-year history. MC is 7-4 all-time on the date, including winning six straight from 1950- 89. The last Gulf South Conference win on October 7th came in 1989 when MC defeated Troy State, 45-7. The Choctaws went on to win the 1989 Division II national championship game.
 
The Choctaws are 9-14-2 all-time in 25 games against teams from the State of Florida. This is one of two games against teams from the Sunshine State this season after a September 23rd contest against Florida Tech.
 
Freshman Darius Young was named the Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week after his performance against Delta State last week. The Shelbyville, Tenn. native returned five kicks for a school-record 194 yards, averaging 38.8 yards per return. He had three runbacks of over 50 yards with a long of 56 on the night. On the season, he leads the GSC with 452 return yards, which also ranks 9th nationally. The all-time record for kickoff return yards in a season is 597 by Austin Divinity in 2009.
 
The Choctaws have five players that have made their way from the State of Florida to play for the "Blue and Gold." Senior offensive lineman Ronny Smith (West Palm Beach) is a four-year starter, while junior Mike Hall (Boynton Beach) started his first two seasons before an injury knocked him out for the 2017 season. Blake Atteberry (Cantonment), J.R. Coker (Perry) and Zach Shahin (Lake Worth) all hail from Florida.
 
Senior defensive back Chris Manning will open his final campaign on the field this season, but he has been recognized for excellence on and off the field in the preseason. Chris is the lone Gulf South Conference nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, recognizing those football student-athletes who contribute to their community while impacting their team. He has also been nominated for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is a post-graduate scholarship granted to 18 different student-athletes across the country. Manning serves on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was vital in the efforts to grant a wish for Make-A-Wish.
 
The Choctaws will play 10 games in 2017, six of which come against opponents that received votes in the AFCA Top 25 Preseason Poll. North Alabama (6), Valdosta State (11) and Southwest Baptist (18) were all in the Top 25, while West Georgia, Florida Tech and Delta State all picked up recognition.
 
The Choctaws will make their longest trip of the season next Saturday when they travel to Georgia to face Valdosta State at 6:00 pm (CT). The contest will be featured as the GSC-TV/ESPN3 Game of the Week. The series is tied 8-8-1 all-time between MC and VSU, but the Blazers have won seven straight between the two schools.
 

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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.