1996

WEEK 0 F __ 9..~..--__;:~ S,.__- q~.., ___

Undefeated Warriors gear for ltawamba

philosophy. "We just work on the funda– mentals every day, --a1d Mtller, who is 26-8 in hi:. four years at Itawamba. "The kids take pride in playing good defen e. They know Itawamba ha ... had some good defensive team m the past. It s fun to coach. The Indian" nrc no louches on offense either Ita\\amba runs a spread offen e \\ 'th four wideouts and one back Taylor estimates h1s team pas~e the ball 70 percent of all JL' offen– sive plays. Fr· !'hman quarter– back Kwas1 C( ckrell ha" com– pleted 23-of-74 lJ3::>'e' th1 ...en– son, good for 373 yard and four touchdown s. Top y; tdeou t' include Sheldon Morrr e,.en receptions. 159 vard -. and Joe Cribbs (eight catche-. Runmng back Ttm Evan5 ha., ru:-hed for 336 yards 111 three gam ... "I don't believe vou can wm m this league 1f you "don t pac: the ball well," Miller -.a1d. So far in keepmg "ath Miller's theocy, Ea t Centrnl IS 3-0 largely on the :.trength of Jts running game. Fre-.hman • iack Pittman <322 yards rushmg four touchdowns) ha::- stepped m for injured Derrell Reed and the Warriors' offense ha" not mb~ed a beat. Our running backs are all healthy - what I'm worned about is ou r offensive hne Coa ts sa1d. '"We've got three starters banged up and that \\ 1ll be a problem agamst Itawamba." Starting tackles Jas 11 .xon (hamstring l and Ryan <::: .~eh· (back) have not pract1ce ~hi-: week and may mic:c: Thursday's game. Also still hurting 1" guard Bo Thomas. who ha ... been

6y Creg Stephenson H1t:: • ·e · al' Star

It doesn t take East Central Community College football coach Willie Coals long to figure out the strength of this week's opponent, the Itawamba Ind1ans Theyre a great defensive team. vear-in and year-out," Coats iaid. "They're among the top Junior college teams in the

nation defensive– ly. They can hurt vou. intim– Idate yo u and domi– nate you

ltawamba at E. Central Thursday, 6:30

with their defense." Coats and the Warriors (3-0J will get a close-up look at that efense. when coach Jay Miller nd the Indians (2-1) come to ecatur Thursday for 6:30 p.m. ·ckoffat Warrior Field. Coats said he has "been cared to death" of the ;.awamba defense after watch– ng films of Itawamba against wte junior college powers Pearl 1ver and Hinds. They play a simple scheme the\' don't do much, but they o It ve rv well,' Coats said. hey attack and come up the eld \'ery fast. If our offensive ne doesn t have a good game, e don t have a chance." Top defens1ve personnel for he Indians are freshman backer Scott King (34 tack– ... -.ophomore linebacker Tony bn_ ... on (28 tackles, two sacks> fre -.hman defensive lineman ameli Houston (four sacks). _r -.aid there is really noth– fancy about his defensive

Paula Merritt/The Meridian Sta

East Central's Earl Truss, pictured makmg a tackle 1n c recent game. will lining up on defense when the Warnor pia) ltawamba Thursday n1ght..

goals and 1n extra point a nc deflected a pass that was inter cepted and returned for a touch down. "We haven't really give r Ashanti his due this vear. bu he's been outstanding," Coat• said "He had the type of game that ranks up there with nation al player of the week types." Injury-wise f-or Ilawamba defensive lineman Terris Burn and running back Kevin Herve have already had knee surgery and are out for the season.

:.lowed by an infected tooth that caused his jaw to swell. But what has been the equal– izer for the Warriors so far this "e<. ;,on is an opportun istic defense led by linebackers DeJuan Clark 135 tackles) and Kemba Bryant lleague-leading 3b ~tops> and safeties Joey Pinkston

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