2000

WEEK OF ---....;1~~/~«~~~~ l~/JJ _ _

ECCC Warriors rally for 25-15 Homecoming w in

just over a minute left before halftime. Quarterback Mitchell McKinnon 's pa~s for the two point conversion was unsuccessful, and Co-Lin maintained its slim 15-13 lead at the break. East Central took control of the division matchup in the second half by registering key plays on offense and defense. The EC defense stopped Lwo Co-Lin sconng threats in the third stanza, thanks to quarter– back sacks by linebackers John Bibb of Tuscaloosa and Levi Duncan o f Eustis, Florida, which forced the Wolves to attempt long field goals, both of which failed. Easl Central's offense then went back to work and gave the Warriors the lead for good early in the final stanza on a 58-yard scoring play featuring McKinnon and running back Patrick Pri nce of Tuscaloosa. McKinnon, a product of Palatka High School, perfectly exe– cuted the option by first rolling right for 13 yards then tossing the pigskin to Prince who raced the final45 yards for the score. The two– point conversion failed but EC grabbed a 19- 15 lead. The Warriors scaled the win with another score b:r Prince, this time a three-yard scam– per with just over a minute left in the contest. The PAT failed. The short conng drive was set up when linebacker Melvin Cotton of Holt, AIa., recovered a Co-Lin fumble at the Wolves' 20-yard line with 3:56 remaining. East Central, which entered the division bat– tle owning the league's top rushing offense with 270.4 yards per game, had 210 yards on the ground and 71 yards passing for a 281 total. McKinnon was the leading rusher with 78 yards on 13 carries. Prince had 57 yards on I0 attempts. Co-Lin had 97 yard~ rushing and 47 yards passing for a 144 total. The Warriors had 12 first downs; Co-Lin registered five.

East Central Community College overcame five turnovers - four in the first half - and an early eight-point deficit to post a 25-15 home– coming win over Copiah-Lincoln Community College Saturday afternoon on the Decatur campus. With the victory, the Warriors snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in South Divi sion action. The visiting Wolves dropped to 1-5 and 0-2. It was a fumble by Co-Lin - which regis– tered four turnovers - that set up East Central's first score and a 7-0 lead. Warrior defensive back D-Angelo Lewis of Tuscaloosa made the recovery at the Co-Lin 29, and on EC 's fifth play from scrimmage, running back Terrance Wansley of Newton County found the end zone on a one-yard plunge with 10:12 remain– ing in the first period. Josh Thoms of Newton booted the PAT. The Wolves got their first points midway in the second stanza, when Thoms, who also han– dled punting duties for the injured Matt Smith of Forest, took a safety to avoid a trong Co– Lin rush when EC faced a fourth and seven sit– uation from its own five-yard line. The visitors tacked on two additional sec– ond-quarter scores - a one-yard tally by run– ning back Michael Loving with 4:59 left before halftime and a 27-yd. scoring pas play from quarterback Odell Bradley to running back Lorenzo Townsend with ju t over two minutes remaining before the break. The Warriors blocked Matt Powers' PAT attempt after Loving's touchdown but Powers was suc– cessful on his second attempt which gave Co– Lin a I 5-7 advantage. The Warriors quickly responded by driving 59 yards in six plays to close the gap, with running back Darrius Thames of Philadelphia finding pay dirt on an 11-yard scamper with

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