CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team will wrap up a three-game road swing this Saturday when they travel to Rome, Ga. to face Shorter University. Kick-off at Historic Barron Stadium is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. (Central).

This week's matchup is the GSC-TV ESPN3 Game of the Week with Don Russell and Rick Rhoads on the call. This will be MC's second time on ESPN3 this season, falling to West Florida on September 22nd. This will be the Hawks' first appearance with their other game coming Thursday at Delta State.

The Choctaws (2-4, 0-3 GSC) are led by 5th-year head coach John Bland, who got the Choctaws off to their first 2-0 start since 2010 before dropping the last four, including losses to nationally-ranked West Florida and Valdosta State and Division I-FCS North Alabama. Last Saturday against the Lions, the defense stepped up in the second half, holding UNA to just 89 yards and three points in the second half.

The Hawks (0-7, 0-5 GSC), led by 1st-year head coach Zach Morrison, have now lost 35 consecutive games with the last win coming on October 3rd, 2015 against MC (42-23). In last week's loss to North Greenville, Shorter allowed their fewest points of the season, falling 41-7.

This will be the 5th all-time meeting between Mississippi College and Shorter with each team picking up a couple wins. The Choctaws have won two straight, including a 32-0 win over the Hawks the last time the teams played in Rome (2016). Greg Nickles nailed a 25-yard field goal as time expired to pick up a 30-29 victory last season in Clinton.
 

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WHEN MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE HAS THE BALL

The Choctaws boast the 3rd-ranked rushing offense (298.3 ypg) in all of Division II, averaging 5.8 yards per rush with 17 touchdowns in 2018. Quarterback Detric Hawthorn ranks second in the league in rushing (98.7 ypg) and has a team-high five rushing touchdowns through six games.

Tiberias Lampkin (77.8 ypg) and Ja'Mori Mark (50.7 ypg) have combined for eight rushing touchdowns this season and have lost just 34 total yards on 119 carries. Cole Rotenberry leads the receiving corps with 10 catches for 242 yards and two scores, including a 70-yard scoring catch against North Alabama last week.

The Choctaws have already tallied 19 plays of over 30 yards this season, including eight plays of over 50 yards. They have also had 14 different players contribute with plays of over 20 yards this season.

Defensively, the Hawks are allowing a league-high 541.9 total yards per game, including 210.1 rushing yards per contests. Tams have scored 23 rushing touchdowns against Shorter this season.

Nehemiah Reddish comes into the game as the team-leader with 57 tackles, averaging 8.1 per game with 30 solo stops. They also have the reigning GSC Freshman of the Week on defense in Shy'rik Furman, who has 2.5 tackles for loss with a sack this season.
 

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WHEN SHORTER HAS THE BALL

The Choctaw defense played their best 30 minutes of the year in the second half against North Alabama, allowing just 89 yards and three-points to the Division I-FCS Lions. After a first half that saw UNA score 31 points, MC forced a pair of punts on two drives that lasted less than two minutes in the second half.

Derric Hawthorn leads the team with 29 total tackles to go along with two pass breakups and one forced fumble. Turner Rotenberry is just behind with 26 tackles and is tied with Elijah Rogers (24 tackles) for the team-high with three interceptions. Rotenberry's 157 return yards is already an MC single-season record.

Michael Washington Jr. leads the team with 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks through six games. Freshman Jared Byrd is behind Washington Jr. with 3.0 TFL in his rookie season.

The pass-heavy Hawks' offense mustered just -6 rushing yards in last week's loss to North Greenville, while throwing the ball 39 times compared to 19 rushing attempts. They tallied 264 passing yards with three interceptions against the Crusaders.

Tyler Pullum has thrown for 1,153 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018, completing 58% of his passes with nine interceptions. Elijah Gilbert has been his top target this year with 33 catches for 282 yards and four touchdowns.
 

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SPECIAL TEAMS

Drake McCarter handles all of the kicking duties for the Choctaws, nailing 5-of-7 field goals with a long of 44 yards. He is averaging 60.2 yards per kickoff with seven touchbacks, as well. McCarter ranks 2nd in the GSC with 43.8 yards per punt, landing seven inside the 20-yard line and hitting six over 50 yards.

Brett Bardenwerper is just 1-of-3 on field goals this season, while Lewis Hayes is averaging 42.6 yards per punt with eight going over 50 yards.
 

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GAME NOTES

The Choctaws are 7-6-2 all-time in their 106-year history as a football program when they play on October 20th. MC has won five of their last six on the date, including a 44-17 victory over West Georgia (1990).

The Choctaws are 30-22-2 all-time against schools from the State of Georgia. MC has already played a pair of opponents from the Peach State in Clark Atlanta (W, 31-30) and Valdosta State (L, 42-63). They still have Shorter and West Georgia on the schedule.

Through just six games in 2018, the Choctaws have already outscored the 2017 squad (169-122), already have more rushing yards (1,755-1,485), rushing touchdowns (17-8) and total touchdowns (22-14).

The Choctaw also have more interceptions (8-5), interception return yards (196-24), while averaging more yards per play (6.4-4.0) than the 2017 team.

The Choctaws have two players from the State of Georgia in linebacker Alizee Chubbs (Atlanta) and EJ Hurley (Tyrone).

The Choctaws will play their first home game in the month of October when they celebrate "Homecoming" on October 27th against West Georgia. The Wolves are currenlty ranked 3rd in the nation and have opened the season 7-0 with a 4-0 record in GSC play. They defeated #10 West Florida (27-7) in Pensacola last Saturday.
 

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Mississippi College is a private Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. MC 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 2018-19 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.