CLINTON, Miss. --- Junior Elijah Rogers' interception in the final minute clinched a 31-30 victory for the Mississippi College football team over Clark Atlanta University on Thursday night at Robinson-Hale Stadium.

The Choctaws (1-0) avenged a 32-29 overtime loss to the Panthers (0-1) from a season ago in Atlanta.
 

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HOW IT HAPPENED

- After the Panthers got the scoring going with a 43-yard field goal, the Choctaws marched 79 yards on six plays as Hawtorn rushed in from two yards out to give the Choctaws a 7-3 advantage. The Jones JC transfer broke open a 61-yard run for the big play on the drive.
- CAU would cut the lead to 7-6 with another field goal, but junior Turner Rotenberry gave MC the momentum back with an 87-yard interception return for a touchdown and the score would be 14-6 after one quarter.
- The second quarter saw the Panthers score their first touchdown of the night, but the Choctaws would sustain a 12-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown plunge for Hawthorn.
- The Panthers would take advantage of an MC fumble, their third turnover of the first half, to score a touchdown and the MC lead would be 21-20 at halftime.
- The two defenses settled down in the second half until MC's second drive of the half when Hawthorn found junior Drew Croegaert with a 28-yard diving catch and would back that up with a 55-yard run to put the Choctaws ahead 28-20.
- Carlos Saldana would hit his third field goal of the night on the next Panther drive and the Choctaws would hold a 28-23 lead going into the fourth quarter.
- The Panthers took their first lead of the night in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter as they turned a 45-yard pass from Charles Stafford to Drakar Jerry in to a one-yard touchdown run from Elijah Odom, making the score 30-28 with 10:05 to go.
- The Choctaws would put together a huge drive on their next possession, taking the ball 69 yards on 10 plays all the way down to the one-yard line over 6:07. Senior Tiberias Lampkin had the big run of the drive with a 33-yard scamper that led to an 18-yard field goal by junior Drake McCarter that ended up being the game-winner.
- The Panthers took the ball on the next possession and would move it all the way to the MC 28-yard line, but Rogers erased all doubt with an interception on a 4th-and-1 play that would clinch the victory.
 

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KEY STATS

- Junior quarterback Detric Hawthorn did it all on Thursday night, carrying the ball 14 times for 141 yards and three scores, while passing for 111 yards on six completions.
- The Choctaws rushed for 238 yards on 42 carries as Lampkin added 89 yards, averaging 5.6 yards on 16 carries.
- Senior Chakel Gates led the receiving corps with two catches for 47 yards.
- McCarter averaged 49.3 yards per punt on three kicks with a long of 56 yards, landing one inside the 20-yard line and crushing two 50-yarders.
- Freshman Jaylan Hassell led the Choctaws with nine tackles, while Rogers had a team-best eight solo stops to go along with two interceptions.
- Junior Derric Hawthorn chipped in seven tackles, while sophomore Michael Washington Jr. had a team-best 2.0 tackles for loss.
- Stafford led the CAU offense with 277 yards and two touchdowns on 30-of-53 passing with three interceptions. He also ran for a team-high 69 yards and 12 attempts.
- Johnathan Sanders caught 14 balls for 120 yards and a score, nabbing 16 targets on the night.
 

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GAME NOTES

- The Choctaws and the Panthers are now 1-1 against each other all-time with the home team winning both contests.
- Head coach John Bland has now won 3-of-5 season openers after beating Texas College (61-6) in 2015 and Point (28-16) in 2016.
- The 141 rushing yards for Hawthorn was the most for a Choctaws since Josh Dixon piled up 153 yards against Valdosta State on October 15, 2016. It's the most rushing yards for a quarterback since Kyle Smith ran for 192 yards against Belhaven on September 19, 2015.
 

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NEXT UP

- The Choctaws will be back in action on Saturday, September 8th when they host Southwest Baptist at 6:00 p.m. at Robinson-Hale Stadium.
 

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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.