CLINTON, Miss. --- After three straight road games to open the season, the Mississippi College football team will finally get their home schedule opened this Saturday when they host Florida Tech. Kick-off at Robinson-Hale Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
 
The Choctaws (0-3, 0-1 GSC) and the Panthers (2-1, 1-0 GSC) have met three previous times with FIT grabbing all three victories. The last time the teams met in Clinton, Florida Tech came away with a 31-14 victory, despite Marcel Newson catching seven passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.
 
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 42-13 loss at West Alabama to open Gulf South Conference play.
 
Head coach Steven Englehart is in his fifth season as the leader of the Florida Tech program, and he led the Panthers to the Division II playoffs in 2016. Last week, FIT hosted Shorter and picked up a 31-6 win to open GSC play.
  

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WHEN MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE HAS THE BALL
 
The Choctaws are coming off their biggest offensive output of the season against West Alabama, putting up 388 yards, including a season-high 282 passing yards. Junior quarterback Ty Jobe went 19-of-28 for 256 yards and an 87-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Nathan Faciane on MC's opening drive.
 
Faciane leads the team with 180 receiving yards on the season, while junior Ja'Moz Mark has a team-high nine catches for 109 yards and a score. Junior Chakel Gates is tied with Faciane with eight catches through the first three games.
 
Junior Tiberias Lampkin and the offensive line, led by senior Ronny Smith, will have their hands full with the top defense in the conference. Florida Tech is allowing just 259.3 total yards per game, including giving up just 184 yards and just 3.0 yards per play in last week's win over Shorter.
 
The Panthers are allowing just 16.0 points and 131.3 passing yards per game over their 2-1 start that includes a loss to Division I-FCS McNeese State. Marquise Hill is the team's leading tackler with 23 stops, including 2.5 tackles for loss and three pass breakups.
 
J.T. Hassell also has 21 tackles and 2.5 TFL on the season, while Adonis Davis paces the squad with 4.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks. Joe Jackson has broken up a team-high four passes, while the FIT defense has yet to force a turnover on the year.
 

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WHEN FLORIDA TECH HAS THE BALL
 
The Choctaw defense is coming off a stout performance against the top passing offense in the conference, holding West Alabama to just 215 passing yards after averaging 355 per game on the season. Junior Colton Magee led the way with seven tackles against the Tigers.
 
On the season, junior Blake Miller has a team-high 17 tackles, including two pass breakups. Junior Kaleb Coleman is just behind with 16 stops, while Magee and senior Chris Manning each have 14 tackles.
 
Senior Carl Rainey Jr. has a team-high 2.0 tackles for loss with a sack, while senior Kris Reliford and junior Justin Stewart each have 1.5 TFL each. Magee also has an interception return for a touchdown, while senior Reggie Bennett picked off a pass against UWA.
 
For the second straight week, the MC defense will face the reigning GSC Offensive Player of the Week as Antwuan Haynes of FIT won the award after rushing for 188 yards and two touchdowns on just 19 carries, nearly getting to 10.0 yards a rush. As a team, FIT rushed for 340 yards on 47 rushes.
 
Senior quarterback Mark Cato, who is the GSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, has been the catalyst for the FIT offense for three years. He has passed for 463 yards and three scores over his first two games. Two years ago in Clinton, Cato passed for 255 yards and three scores while rushing for 78 yards and a touchdown.
 
Romell Guerrier is the team's leading receiver with 14 catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns, while Demetrius Frazier has 10 catches for 136 yards and a score. 
 

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SPECIAL TEAMS
 
Senior punter Matthew Turcotte ranks 2nd in the Gulf South Conference in punting average (39.6) after being named to the All-GSC Preseason Team. Last week against UWA, he had two punts blocked, including one that turned into a touchdown for the Tigers.
 
Junior Greg Nickles was perfect on field goal attempts and made his extra point against West Alabama. Senior Matt Brasher has handled the kickoff duties and has held opponents to start at their own 26-yard line on average through the first three games.
 
Junior Ja'Moz Mark and freshman Darius Young lead the kickoff return attack with Young putting up a season-high 67-yard return against Southwest Baptist. Faciane is averaging 6.7 yards per punt return on the year.
 
The Panthers are 2-of-3 on field goal attempts, while Zachary Leatherman has a team-long of a 30-yard field goal this season. Kyle Gullikson handles the punting and kickoff duties for FIT, averaging 35.0 yards per punt on the season.
 
Max Erdman had a punt return for a touchdown earlier this season, while Gary Holmes Jr. is averaging 20.5 yards per kickoff return on the year.
 

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GAME NOTES
 
The Choctaws have played nine previous times on September 23rd in their 106-year history. MC is 5-4 all-time on the date, including a 24-16 win over Livingston (West Alabama) in 1978. MC won their last game on September 23rd, taking down McMurry in 2006, 36-26.
 
The Choctaws are 9-13-2 all-time against teams from the State of Florida, facing 10 total teams. The most common opponent for MC from the Sunshine State is Stetson (3-2-1).
 
The Choctaws will play their first game at Robinson-Hale Stadium in 2017 and their first since last season's finale against North Alabama on November 12th. Last year, MC went 2-4 at home, including wins over Point and Cumberland (TN). This will be the first of two, two-game homestands this year as MC will be featured on the GSC-TV/ESPN3 Game of the Week when they host rival Delta State on September 30th.

The Choctaws have five players that made their way from the State of Florida to play for the "Blue and Gold." Senior offensive lineman (West Palm Beach) is a four-year starter for MC, 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) also 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 welcome rival Delta State to Robinson-Hale Stadium on Saturday, September 30th at 7:00 pm. The contest will be the GSC-TV/ESPN3 Game of the Week. The last time the two teams met in Clinton, DSU came back from a halftime deficit to pick up a 37- 29 victory.
 

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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.