CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team will close out their home schedule on Saturday when they host West Alabama. Kick-off at Robinson-Hale Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with "Senior Day" festivities taking place prior to the start of the game.
Prior to the game, the MC Football program will celebrate "Senior Day" recognizing the support staff, cheerleaders and football players participating in their final home game at Robinson-Hale Stadium.
The Choctaws are led by 5th-year head coach
John Bland, who got the Choctaws off to their first 2-0 start since 2010 and snapped a four-game losing streak with a 37-24 win over Shorter on October 20th. Last week, MC held a 21-17 lead over #3 West Georgia before the Wolves scored the final 19 points of the game to come back for the victory.
The Tigers are led by former UWA quarterback, Brett Gilliland, who is also in his 5th year with the program. They have won three of their last four games, including a 29-22 victory over Florida Tech for "Homecoming" last Saturday. Bayley Blanchard caught nine passes for 132 yards and a score.
This will be the 45th all-time meeting between the two schools, the most for MC against any opponent outside of Millsaps (52 Games). The Tigers hold a 23-19-2 edge in the series, including winning seven straight. MC's last win in the series came on Sept. 21, 1995 with a 30-7 victory in Clinton.
WHEN MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE HAS THE BALL
The Choctaw offense has been run-heavy in 2018, averaging 282.1 yards per game on the ground with 23 touchdowns. Last week, MC was held under 200 rushing yards in a game for the first time this season, carrying the ball 47 times for 195 yards, but they were still able to score three touchdowns against the Wolves.
Quarterback
Detric Hawthorn is the second-leading rusher in the Gulf South Conference, averaging 104.1 yards per contest with a team-high nine touchdowns. He has rushed for over 100 yards five times this season, racking up a season-high 148 against Shorter.
Tiberias Lampkin (616 yds) and
Ja'Mori Mark (373 yds) have each tallied five touchdowns on the ground, racking up more than 5.0 yards per carry apiece.
Cole Rotenberry is the team's leading receiver with 14 catches for 328 yards and three touchdowns, including a 70-yard score against North Alabama.
The Tigers' defense has allowed just 105.8 rushing yards per game in 2018, only giving up 10 touchdowns through nine games. Terry Samuel is the team's leading tackler with 70 stops, while Jordan Jones leads the squad with 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks.
Nicarius Peterson leads the team with three interceptions, while Jordan Graddy has two interceptions to go along with four pass break-ups. Darius Ellis leads the team with three forced fumbles.
WHEN WEST ALABAMA HAS THE BALL
Derric Hawthorn leads the MC defense with 40 tackles, including 31 solo stops.
Turner Rotenberry has 37 tackles with three interceptions and has already set a school single-season record with 157 return yards.
Elijah Rogers leads the team with four interceptions to go along with 36 tackles and a sack.
Michael Washington Jr. leads the team with 6.0 tackles for loss, while
Fred Walls racked up two sacks in his first career start last Saturday.
Harry Satterwhite is completing 58% of his passes for 2,013 yards with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Christian Saulsberry has caught a team-high 42 passes for 518 yards. Bayley Blanchard has caught 40 passes for 493 yards and is tied for the team-lead with five touchdowns.
Qua Boyd and Tyriq Martin have also caught five touchdowns apiece. Tyler Rogers leads the rushing attack with 564 yards and 5.0 yards per carry, while Derrick Underwood has a team-high five rushing touchdowns.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Drake McCarter handles all of the kicking duties for the Choctaws, averaging 43.6 yards per punt with a long of 61 yards. He has also hit 6-of-8 field goals with a long of 44 yards.
Jordan Bennett has hit 9-of-17 field goals for the Tigers with a long of 45 yards. Zach Gaines has punted 30 times for an average of 42.5 yards per bott with a long of 62 yards.
GAME NOTES
The Choctaws are 6-5 all-time in their 106-year history as a football program when they play on November 3rd. The Choctaws are on a current 5-game winning streak on the date with their last loss coming in 1973.
The Choctaws are 31-22-2 all-time against schools from the State of Georgia. MC has already played three opponents from the Peach State in Clark Atlanta (W, 31-30), Valdosta State (L, 42-63) and Shorter (W, 37-21). West Georgia will be their final opponent from the state this season.
The 2018 season has been a much different story than just a year ago. Through just seven games this season, the 2018 Choctaws have outscored the 2017 squad (227-122), already have more rushing yards (2,257-1,485) rushing touchdowns (23-8) and total touchdowns (30-14). MC already has more interceptions than a season ago (11-5) and many more interception return yards (323-24). In 2017, the Choctaws averaged just 4.0 yards per play, while they are averaging 6.2 yards per snap in 2018.
The Choctaws have 17 players from the State of Alabama, the most from any state besides Mississippi.
Coby Kirchharr and
Tahara Thornton (Mobile) and
Kobe Graves and
Parker Davis (Tuscaloosa) represent just two cities with multiple players.
The Choctaws will close out the 2018 campaign on the road, traveling to Cleveland to face rival Delta State University. The Statesmen are 1-7 on the season, picking up their first win last week against Shorter. MC's last win over DSU came in 1993 when the Choctaws went to Cleveland and grabbed a 13-7 victory.
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.
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