LORMAN, Miss. --- The Mississippi College football team opened the 2019 season with a 45-7 loss at Alcorn State University on Saturday night at Spinks-Casem Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Choctaws opened the game with a defensive stop, forcing a punt from the defending SWAC Champions.
After MC punted the ball away on their next drive, the Braves drove down for their first touchdown of the night, a 29-yard rush by Niko Duffey on third down.
The Choctaws fumbled the ball away on their next drive, and Alcorn State scored on their next three possessions to take a 28-0 lead that would go into the half.
The MC offense put together back-to-back drives in the first half that went for over 40 yards, but one ended with a missed field goal and the other was a turnover on downs.
The Choctaws opened with the ball in the second half, but a fumble ended the drive and led to a 39-yard field goal by Alcorn State to push the lead to 31-0 in the third quarter.
The score remained until the Braves punched the first drive of the fourth quarter into the end zone to take a 38-0 advantage.
Alcorn State added another score in the 4th quarter on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Noah Johnson to Duffey.
The Choctaws got on the board for the first time in 2019 with a 10-yard touchdown pass from freshman
DeAnte' Smith-Moore to fellow rookie
Rondell Cole with 2:43 to go in the game.
KEY STATS
The Choctaws piled up 242 yards of offense, averaging over 5.0 yards per play, rushing for 117 yards on 40 carries.
Senior
Detric Hawthorn led the way with 26 rushing yards, while senior
Jordan Wright rushed for 25 more.
Smith-Moore went 3-for-3 through the air for 68 yards and a touchdown, while Hawthorn completed a couple passes for 57 yards.
Cole caught two passes for 49 yards and a score, while senior
Cole Rotenberry also caught two balls for 32 yards, and sophomore
Orlando Doss pulled down a 44-yard catch.
Sophomore
Jaylan Hassell tallied a team-high six tackles, while senior
Turner Rotenberry had a tackle for loss for the defense.
The Braves rushed for 324 yards on 43 carries, led by Duffey with 13 carries for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
Darrell Henderson led the Alcorn defense with seven tackles.
NEXT UP
The Choctaws will play their home opener next Saturday (Sep. 14) when Albany State comes to Clinton for the first-ever meeting between the schools.
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.
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