Gulf Coast's Byron Nettles (2) stiff arms a Hinds defender on Sept. 13. Nettles rushed for 153 yards and three TD’S in his team’s 41-28 win.
PERKINSTON—Even a veteran head coach like Steve Campbell picks up some new knowledge during an MACJC battle.
Campbell, in his ninth season at the helm of Gulf Coast, said after his team’s 41-28 win over Hinds that a few lessons were learned during the early-season battle between South Division foes.
“We let up a bit tonight in the second half, and I probably made a couple of bad play calls,” said Campbell. “But, we won by 13. If you would’ve told me that at the beginning of the night, I would’ve easily taken it.”
Campbell and Gulf Coast (3-0, 1-0) had the luxury of learning from this game after building a34-0 lead heading into halftime. The No. 4 ranked Bulldogs used three touchdown passes from Clint Hatten to Dhaquille Williams and two TD runs by running back Byron Nettles to blow what was expected to be a slugfest between two of theNJCAA’S top 10 teams.
Hatten, who went 9 of 12 for 222 yards, found Williams on a 70-yard TD pass for one score and later hit Williams on a 6-yard TD to make it 13-0 in the first quarter. Then Bulldog running back Byron Nettles scored twice, once from eight yards out and then again from 16 yards, making it 27-0 Bulldogs with 5:28 left in the first half.
On the last play of the half, the Hatten to Williams duo struck again from 47-yards out to make it 34-0 Gulf Coast at halftime. Williams. A freshman from LaPlace, LA, had five catches for 170 yards and three TD’s against Hinds.
The second half featured a Hinds team that wouldn’t quit as the Eagles scored twice in the third quarter cutting the lead to 34-14. Gulf Coast answered with a one-yard TD plunge by Anton Thornton, his fourth TD of the season, to up the Gulf Coast lead to 41-14, with 11:06 remaining in the game. Thornton rushed 13 times for 100 yards while Nettles carried 23 times for 153 yards and two scores.
Hinds (2-1, 0-1) responded with two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 41-28, with 4:25 left in the game. A final drive by the Eagles to pull closer ended on a Josh Keys interception of Hinds quarterback Chris Nelson, one of two turnovers caused by the Bulldog defense.
“We had 13 penalties tonight, but our guys played hard and responded to the challenge when Hinds made their comeback attempt,” Campbell said. “Last year we were up on these guys 28-0 and hung on to win 35-26, so this is nothing new.”
The win was the 16th in a row by Gulf Coast at home and eighth straight over Hinds dating back to 2005. The Bulldogs are now 32-2 at A.L. May Memorial Stadium since 2006 and 32-2 in MACJC South Division games since 2007.
“It was good to get back home and get a win on front of our fans,” said quarterback Clint Hatten.”
Gulf Coast heads back on the road on Sept. 22 to take on Jones (2-1, 1-0), a 39-34 winner at Pearl River, in Ellisville at 7 p.m. Bulldog fans can watch all the action via streaming video at www.mgcccbulldogs.com or listen on 103.1 FM WOSM.