CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team will play their home finale on Saturday when they host Shorter University. Kick-off at Robinson-Hale Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
 
Prior to the contest, the MC athletic department will recognize senior support staff, cheerleaders and players that will be participating in their final home football games in Clinton. The "Senior Day" ceremony will begin at approximately 1:30 p.m.
 
The Choctaws (0-8, 0-6 GSC) and the Hawks (0-9, 0-6 GSC) will meet for just the fourth time with Shorter holding a 2-1 edge in the series. MC went to Rome, Ga. last season and picked up their first Gulf South Conference win since 1995, a 32-0 victory over the Hawks on November 3rd.
 
Head coach John Bland leads the Choctaws in his fourth season at the helm, while Aaron Kelton is in his second season as the head man at Shorter.
 
The Choctaws are coming off a bye week after a weather-shortened loss (28-0) to nationally-ranked West Georgia on October 21st. The Hawks are also coming off a loss (42-6) to UWG in their last contest, a Thursday night GSC-TV/ESPN3 Game of the Week matchup.
 

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WHEN MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE HAS THE BALL
 
The Choctaw offense will look to bounce back after a couple of rough outings, putting up just three combined points against Valdosta State and West Georgia. In their previous matchup, a 28-14 loss to West Florida, MC rushed for over 200 yards and held a 14-7 lead at the halftime break.
 
Junior Tiberias Lampkin leads the rushing attack with 439 yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry with one touchdown. Junior quarterback Ty Jobe has a team-high three rushing touchdowns this season, all of which came in MC's season-opening overtime loss to Clark Atlanta.
 
Jobe leads the team with 694 passing yards and two touchdowns through the air, but junior Khiran Williams and red-shirt freshman Aaron Feazelle have also seen significant time under center this season.
 
No matter the quarterback, sophomore Nathan Faciane has been the team's top pass-catching target with 25 receptions for 334 yards and two scores. Junior Chakel Gates (18 rec, 152 yds) and senior Christian Keene (13 rec, 141 yds) have given MC multiple options on the outside this season.
 
The offensive line will be near full strength for the first time since mid-September this week as senior Ronny Smith and sophomore E.J. Hurley come back to their original spots of center and guard, respectively. Junior Randan Knight and red-shirt freshman Jeremiah Campbell are the only two offensive linemen to start all eight games this season.
 
The Hawks are allowing nearly 500 yards of offense and 44.4 yards per game this season. They have also given up 24 rushing touchdowns and 25 passing scores on the season. Shorter held Florida Tech to 31 points on September 16th, the lowest scoring output for an opponent this season.
 
Defensively, Kareem Taylor leads the defensive unit with 66 tackles, 10.0 of which are for loss. He also paces the squad with 4.0 sacks and has forced a fumble this season. Kevin Knight (59 tackles) and Nehemiah Reddish (58 tackles) are just behind Taylor in stops this season.
 
Knight is the leader of the secondary with two interceptions and seven pass breakups this season. Rodney Jackson has tallied 45 tackles with an interception and six breakups on the year.
 

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WHEN SHORTER HAS THE BALL
 
The Choctaw defense had arguably their best game of the season against West Georgia, holding the GSC's top offense scoreless over the first 23 minutes of the game. MC forced three punts, recovered a fumble and picked off a pass as the game was scoreless with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
 
Senior Chris Manning leads the unit with 40 tackles and a team-high three interceptions, including two against West Georgia. The Section, Ala. native now has nine picks in his career and needs just one more to become the 12th player in school history with double-digit interceptions.
 
Senior Kaleb Coleman also has 40 tackles on the year, including a season-high nine last time out against the Wolves. The Robertsdale, Ala. native has 2.5 TFL and has forced two fumbles. Junior Colton Magee has tallied 37 tackles with a team-high 4.5 for loss and an interception return for a touchdown in the season-opener against Clark Atlanta.
 
Senior Kris Reliford has 3.5 TFL and 31 tackles from a defensive line position, while junior Blake Miller has a team-high three pass breakups with 27 tackles. Senior Carl Rainey Jr. has added a team-best 2.0 sacks with 3.5 TFL on the season.
 
Offensively, the Hawks rely on their passing game, spearheaded by sophomore signal-caller Tyler Pullum. He is completing 57% of his passes for 1640 yards and eight touchdowns. He has been vulnerable to the turnover this season with eight interceptions on the year.
 
Senior running back B.J. McCoy is an All-GSC performer that missed the 2016 season with an injury. He has not been the same player since returning from the setback, rushing for just 375 yards and three scores on the season. However, in 2015, McCoy carried the ball 12 times for 117 yards, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry.
 
Junior Lewis Hayes has been the top receiving threat for the Hawks, catching 45 passes for 578 yards and four touchdowns, all team-highs. He had a 75-yard touchdown catch two weeks ago in Shorter's 42-29 loss to West Florida.
 

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SPECIAL TEAMS
 
The Choctaws rank in the top 30 in the nation in kick return average and boast the second-best mark in the Gulf South Conference with 23.0 yards per return. Darius Young, who earned Freshman of the Week honors after his performance against Delta State, has 16 returns and is averaging 29.4 yards per run-back. Chakel Gates is also averaging 26.7 yards per return with a long of 43 yards.
 
The kicking trio of Matt Brasher, Greg Nickles and Matthew Turcotte will be playing their final games at Robinson-Hale Stadium this weekend. Brasher is averaging 58 yards per kickoff with a touchback, while Nickles is 5-of-9 on field goals with a long of 33 yards. Turcotte will go down as one of the best punters in school history, averaging nearly 42 yards per boot over his four-year career.
 
Lewis Hayes doubles as the team's punter and kickoff specialist. He averages 38.3 yards per punt with eight over 50 yards and 14 landing inside the 20-yard line. He has seven touchbacks on 19 kickoffs this season. Brady Hammel is 2-of-5 on field goals with a long of 31 yards in 2017.
 

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GAME NOTES
 
The Choctaws are 3-6 all-time on November 4th in their 105-year history. This will be just the second home game MC has played on November 4th after a win over the State College of Arkansas (25-14) in 1972. The Choctaws' last game on November 4th was a 30-15 loss to Texas Lutheran in 2006.
 
The Choctaws are 28-22-2 all-time against teams from the State of Georgia. The 2017 campaign sees them face four teams from the Peach State in Clark Atlanta, Valdosta State, West Georgia and Shorter.
 
The Choctaws rank in the Top 30 in the country in two statistical categories, sitting 16th in time of possession (32:52) and 29th in kickoff return average (22.98). MC has held the ball longer than their opponent in every game this season outside of the weather-shortened contest against West Georgia on October 21st. Freshman Darius Young (13th) and junior Chakel Gates (27th) are also ranked nationally in individual kick returns.
 
The Choctaws have five players from the State of Georgia that will face Shorter this Saturday. Alizee Chubbs (Atlanta), Keith Harison (Dallas), EJ Hurley (Tyrone) and Jamarcus Morrissette (Douglasville) are all from the Peach State. This is the third of four games against teams from the Peach State (Clark Atlanta, Valdosta State and Shorter).
 
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 wrap up the 2017 season at North Alabama next Saturday. The matchup in Florence will be the final Gulf South Conference game for the Lions as they move up to Division I-FCS next season. MC and UNA will continue their series over the next two seasons as the Choctaws are scheduled to travel to Florence in 2018 and 2019.
 

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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.