1996

WEEK OF -~~ ~ ::.J-II..:l3.::..- ...~9~1 f~'------

Warriorsdown Southwest 41-6 Scoring on thl!lr hr~t four posses– SIOns, cast central Community Col– lege jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 41-6 victory over Southwt!st Thursday mght, set– llng up one of the b1ggcst games in school history this Satu rda y's d ivision champi– onship battle with the Hinds Eagles, who are also undefeated in division play. rate from 32 and 23 yards. The Warriors put the game on ice when Bradford burst through the Bears' defense on an 88-yard jaunt with 50 seconds remaining before halftime. walker again kicked the PAT.

Hinds brings a 6-3 overall mark into the title contest, scheduled at 2:30 p.m. in Decatur, although the three losses represent forfeits to north division opponents due to the eagle's using and ineligible player. The winner of the ECCC-Hinds battle will meet Holmes fro the state championship which will be played at the site of the south victor on sat– urday November 23. Warrior workhorse Mack Pittman began the EC scoring onslaught with his one-yard plunge on the game's opening drive. Shaun Walker kicked the PAT. The 80-yard, nine-play drive fea– tu red the hard-nosed running Pittman and Scott Central fullback Steve Bradford. The two power-packed running backs - referred to as nitro and glyc– erin because of their explosive bursts through the opponents defense– accounted for a! 80 yards gained during the scoring march. Bradford later extended the war– rior lead on his three-yard run with · 3:198 remaining in the initial period. Walker kicked the PAT. The 57-yard, 10-play drive again featured nitro {Pittman) and glycerin (Bradford), who accumulated all but nine yards gained during the march. EC, which led 14-0 after the first period of play, added 13 points in the second stanza on Walkers two field goals a nd Brad ford's long touchdown run. W.i\Jker was accu-

After defeating the visihng Bears, number six East Cenb a! unproved to a 9-Q overall mark and 5-0 m South Division act10n, and set the stage for

Bradford's score was set up by Joey Pinkston's interception o f a Southwest pass on the warrior 12- yard line, nixing a possible Bear touchdown. For Pinkston, a fresh man free-safety from Forest, tht! interception represented his seventh of the season-best in the state. Following a scoreless third quar– ter, during which Southwest failed to connect on field goal attempts of 36-yards each, Warrior backup quar– terback AI Hunt found the endzone on a fou r-yard das.h with 10:11 remaining in the final stanza. ECCC converted the two-point play on a miss snap for the PAT. Southwest got its only pomts when defender Damion Woods intercepted a Warrior pass and returned the pigskin 15 yards to pa' dirt. The PAT was blocked. The final points of the game came on Hunt's 21-yard scramble with 6:04 left in the division matchup walkers PAT was not s uccessful Hunts tally was set up by Pittman's 47-yard kickoff return to the South west48. East Central, ranked sixth m the nation according to the NJCAA poll brings a perfect 9-Q record into the Saturday contest with Hinds to decide the south division champ1 onship. Kickoff is set for 2:30.

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