CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team improved to 3-0 at Robinson-Hale Stadium in 2019 with a 34-14 victory over Florida Tech on Saturday night.
The Choctaws improved to 3-3 overall with a 2-2 Gulf South Conference record, while the Panthers fell to 3-3 and 1-2 in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Choctaws wasted no time grabbing a lead as they took the opening kickoff 86 yards on 10 plays, capped off by a six-yard touchdown run from junior
Jaylin Jones to go ahead 7-0.
- MC's defense forced a punt on the next possession, and after a missed field goal, senior
Turner Rotenberry pulled down his first interception of the season on the next play to give the Choctaws great field position.
- The teams would trade punts over the rest of the second quarter until the Choctaws broke through with a trick play as senior
Ja'Mori Mark found senior
Cole Rotenberry with a six-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 14-0.
- With just 13 seconds left in the half, the Panthers took over after a kickoff out-of-bounds and connected on a hail mary as time expired to cut the lead to 14-7 going into the break.
- To open the second half, Florida Tech tied things up with a seven-play, 57-yard drive that ended on a six-yard touchdown run from quarterback Mike Diliello.
- The Choctaws would take over from there, scoring the final 20 points of the game to give MC their first win over the Panthers in school history.
- On 3rd-and-7 on MC's next possession, senior
Detric Hawthorn found
Cole Rotenberry for a 66-yard touchdown pass, the longest play of the season for the Choctaws, to take a 21-14 lead with 10:06 to go.
- The teams would trade punts before the MC defense stepped up again with junior
Josh Miller intercepting his first pass of the season and returning the pick 28 yards into FT territory.
- That turnover led to a two-yard touchdown run by Hawthorn that gave the Choctaws a 28-14 lead late in the third quarter.
- On the Panthers' next possession, senior
Quentin Frazier sacked quarterback Trent Chmelik and forced a fumble that was recovered by junior
Fred Walls.
- The Choctaws took over and on 4th-and-5, Hawthorn found Rotenberry for his third receiving touchdown of the night to give the game its final score of 34-14.
KEY STATS
- The Choctaw defense gave up a season-low 232 total yards of offense, forcing three interceptions, a fumble and two turnovers on downs on 11 Florida Tech possessions.
- The Choctaws put up a season-high 390 total yards of offense themselves, rushing for a season-high 271 yards on 62 carries.
- MC held the ball for nearly 40 minutes on the night, holding Florida Tech to just 44 plays on offense on the night.
-
Jaylin Jones became the first Choctaw to rush for over 100 yards this season, carrying the ball 20 times for 126 yards and a touchdown.
- Hawthorn was 4-for-7 for 113 yards and two touchdowns, also rushing for 21 yards and a score.
-
Cole Rotenberry caught three passes for 92 yards, all three of which went for scores in the contest.
- Junior
Jonathan Jones had a team-high four tackles and a tackle for loss for the Choctaws.
- Miller, Rotenberry and sophomore
Calvin Sims Jr. each had an interception on the night, giving the Choctaws five total on the season.
- Diliello was just 8-of-18 for 167 yards and a score, also tossing all three touchdowns.
- Corey Lane led the team with 39 rushing yards as the MC defense held Florida Tech to just 59 rushing yards in the contest.
- Damien McGhee caught five balls for 92 yards and the hail mary touchdown to end the first half.
- Malachi Timberlake led the FT defense with eight tackles, including 2.0 for loss.
GAME NOTES
- The Choctaws are now 1-5 all-time against the Panthers, including scoring their first points against Florida Tech in Clinton since 2015.
- The 126 yards rushing by Jones was the most for a Choctaw since
Detric Hawthorn rushed for 148 yards against Shorter in 2018.
NEXT UP
- The Choctaws will have next week off and will return home to host Shorter for "Homecoming" on October 26th.
- Kickoff at Robinson-Hale Stadium is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
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 began 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.
#MC#
