1996

WEEK OF _I'-1-~~-- 9~L.Lo _____ _

Warriors down Wolves 20-14 Mack Pittman's four-yard burst in double overtime lifted East Central Community College to a 20-14 South Division win over host Copiah-Lin– coln Halloween rught, and mo\'ed the Warriors within two games of a possi– ble undefeated season - the first such occurrence in almost 60 years. Walker's kick was not successful, forcing the overtime period.Co-Lin had taken a 7-0 second quarter lead when McDaniel found the endzone on a 35-yard scamper. Damien Rosset– ti added the PAT.

due to an inelig1ble player. Hinds, winners of the last two state titles, has not lost to East Central since 1981, when the warnors managed a 24-21 decision.In leading EC over Co-Lln (6- 3, 4-2), Pittman not onl) scored the games-winning touchdown but his 191 yards rushing on 30 carries gave the freshman standout from Panama City, Florida, over 1000 yards of rush– ing for the 1996 campa1gn. His rush– ing total stands at 1023 yards - with two games still remaining. The double-overtime win proved once again that head coach Willie Coats' Warriors keep finding ways to win games, instead of losing contests by making crucial mistakes. One could say that Pittman's wining score was actually set up by the warrior defense, which stopped Co-Lin run– ning back Ronnell McDaniel from handing the Wolves a go-ahead touchdown. Co-Lin was in position to take the lead in the second overtime period until freshman Warrior free safety Joey P~nkston of Forest stripped McDaruel of the pigskin and made the recovery on the one-yard-line. The standout defensive play obviously sparked the.EC offensive unit which found paydirt on Pittman's run in just five plays from the 25-yard-line, from where each team gets possession in an overlime period. East Central had an opportunity to win the division matchup in the first overtime period, but Shaun Walker's field goal effort from 38 yards out was w1de left. Walker, a Morton freshman, had earlier missed on a 39-yard effort with seconds remaining m regulation. On the previous play, EC had set up for a 42-yard field goal try on fourth and inches but a high snap to holder I quarterback Jake Kizziah forced the sophomore from Tuscaloosa to scramble for the first down yardagehe achieved after reach– ing out-of-bounds with six seconds remaining.

East Central tied the contest in the third stanza on Scott Central product Steven Bradford's 16-yard run. Walk– er's PAT deadlocked the score at 7-7. Pittman gave the Warriors a fourth quarter lead with his 34-yard tally at the 13:"06 mark, and Walker's PAT made the score 14-7. The Wolves tied the game with 4:21 remaining w_hen quarterback Tim Hogue lofted a three-yard strike to Todd Davis, capping an 80-yard, 15- play march. Rossetti added the PAT. East Central had 312 yards rushing on 53 attempts, with Pittman account– ing for 191 yards on 30 carries. Their top 111shers were Bradford, 72 yards on 16 attempts; and AI Hunt, 35 yards on one carry. Hunt's run came on a fourth and 22 situation on the EC nine-yard-line when the punter I quar– terback avoided a heavy rush and scampered for the first down yardage to the Warrior 44. Hunt, a freshman from Honea Path, South Carolina, is averaging 41.6 yards per punt, second best in the state.Kizziah completed one of nine passes, a 12-yarder to sophomore Der– rell Reed of Forest Co-Lin had 167 yards rushing and 94 yards passing.Defensively for East Central, DeJuan Oark Jed the charge with 10 tackles and three assists fol– lowed by Kemba Bryant's nine tackles and four assists. Prior to the Co-Lin game, Bryant led the juco league with 58 solo stops and 28 assists with Clark in second place with 55 tackles and 19 assists. Other top defenders included Pinkston, seven and one, two fumble recoveries and one interception; Xavier Thomas, six and three; and Jeff Row~, six and two. Pinkston led the league with five interceptions through the first seven contests.

East Central, 8-0 overall and 4-0 in league play, will close out regular sea– son action by hosting South~·vest (3-6, 1-4) this Thursday at 6:30 p.m., and Hinds {6-3, 4-0) on Saturday Novem– ber 16, with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. in Warrior Stadium. Southwest fell 35-10 to v1siting Jones last Thursda}' while Hinds claimed a 24-3 road victory over Pearl River Saturday night. Should East central defeat the Bears and Eagles, The Warriors would post their first 10-0 record since 1939, when EC won 1t only state football championship. East Central is favored to get past Southwest, but upsetting Hinds will be no easy matter. On the field, the eagles are 9-0 but had to forfeit three non-division wins

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