ATLANTA, Ga. --- Despite a strong second half comeback, the Mississippi College football dropped the 2017 season opener, 32-29, at Clark Atlanta on Thursday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Choctaws (0-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter as junior quarterback Ty Jobe capped a six-play, 48-yard drive with a four-yard run to the end zone.
- After the Panthers (1-0) answered with a score of their own, junior linebacker Colton Magee returned an interception 21 yards for a score and gave MC the 14-7 advantage.
- CAU scored two touchdowns in the final nine minutes of the second quarter, including a four-yard touchdown pass as time expired to take a 22-14 lead into the break.
- The Choctaws came out in the second half and put together a 12-play, 88-yard drive, capped by an 18-yard touchdown run from Jobe. After a two-point conversion pass from senior Christian Keene to Jobe, the game was tied at 22-22 with just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.
- The game remained tied until the final minutes of the game, and Jobe scored his third rushing touchdown of the night, going in from 12 yards out with 2:03 to go. After an extra point by junior Greg Nickles, MC took a 29-22 advantage.
- The Panthers, who gained just 54 yards in the second half heading into the final drive, went 75 yards in the last minute and scored from a yard out as time expired, making the extra point to send the game to overtime.
- MC got the ball first in the extra period, but after losing yardage on back-to-back penalties, Nickles saw his 42-yard kick come up short.
- The Panthers would be pushed back, as well, but Ty Woods drilled a 44-yard field goal to give CAU the walk-off win.

KEY STATS
- Junior Tiberias Lampkin led the MC offense with 98 rushing yards on 11 carries, while junior Alizee Chubbs, an Atlanta native, rushed for 58 yards on 14 carries.
- Jobe carried the ball 15 times for 53 yards and three scores, while passing 12-of-23 for 99 yards and an interception.
- Junior Chakel Gates and sophomore Nathan Faciane each had a team-high three catches.
- Defensively, senior Steven Bradley led the way with seven tackles and tackle for loss, while junior Blake Miller had four tackles with two pass breakups.
- Quarterback Johnathon McCrary, a Vanderbilt transfer, passed for 243 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 50 yards on eight attempts with two scores.
- Deandre Jackson led the Panthers with seven catches for 65 yards.
- Kenneth Morgan led CAU with nine tackles, while Chavious Burns had eight tackles and 1.5 TFL.

GAME NOTES
- The Choctaws had won two straight season-openers with wins over Texas College (2015) and Point (2016).
- MC is now 51-51-4 all-time in season-opening contests.

NEXT UP
- The Choctaws will be back in action next Saturday (Sept. 9) when they travel to Bolivar, Mo. to face #18 Southwest Baptist.
 

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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.