2002

WEt: K OF~ 23 1 Z£:x)2 ECCC falls to earl River, 13-9; prepares t o host Gulf Coast . .. .. <6 ""' .. • .. ., • ... • .. .

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By Stan Cald\\ ell EMG sports wnter POPLARVILLE - In business. called closing the deal. In football, it's called sco~ "her.: you have the opportumty, and E.as! Central Community Colle;e d d close the deal Thur ·da\ nizht dz ping a 13-9 decision to 'Pearl Ri\ - the South Division opener for teams. ECCC dropped to 0-3 O\'erall and in the division; PRCC imp;o\ed to __ and 1-0. "We were able to mon~ the ball pos– sess the ball and keep their off~ the field," said Warrior coach Terry Underwood. "But we couldn t ~et 1t m the end zone when we had ~he opror– tunity." Indeed, mistakes at cri:ica1 h.me, killed the Warriors. ECCC go~ mto the red zone three times, but onlv got one touchdown out of it. The \Vair. ,... had two drives of 16 and 18 plavs :1nd got nothing out of either one • East Central got a taste of how th~ night would go on its first posc;ession after the opening kickoff. The Warrior'!> from their own 34 to the PRCC 6, eating up nearly eight minutes off the clock. But two consecutive motion penalties moved the Warriors back 10 yards, and the Wildcat defense stiffened. Travis Osley then missed a 33-yard field goal attempt wide left. The Wildcats wasted little time in taking advantage of the reprieve.

cornerback Pete McBride hauled in a tipped pass at the Warrior 10, and dashed 45 yards to midfield. But a • holding penalty moved the ball all the way back to the 10, forcing the War– riors to got he length of the Held. Nevertheless, the Warriors held the ball for 16 plays and nearly seven min– utes and thought they had the go-ahead tou chdown. East Central got strong running from a host of backs, primarily Horace Glenn, Titus Ryan and Eiland. Glenn led the Warriors with 97 yard s on 16 carries. Ryan had 75 yards on 17 caries and Eiland had 52 yards on 17 runs. In all, ECCC ran for 218 yards. The Wa rriors converted a fourth down on their long march, with Eiland picking up 5 yards to the Wildcat 21. Then, a fter a motion penalty and a 3- yard loss moved the ba ll back to the 29, Ryan burst 18 yards to the 11, and Eiland plunged a yard to a first-and– goal from the 10. Germain e Smith then burst up the middle and into the end zone for an apparent score. But the Warriors were flagged for holding, and on third down, Marcus H ibbler was stripped of the ball and Glentrelle Ware recovered for Pearl River. The Warriors held and got the ba ll back at their own 10 again with 9:31 to play in the game. The Warriors drove as fa r as the Wildcat 35, but a motion p enalty on a fourth-and-5 forced the Warriors into a passing situation, and Stephens rushed pass fell incomplete.

-~ do"" n pass from Daniel Done·. an Morgan. The War- tzo:le'M!'C"' the conversion, but PRCC 1&li ~ 3:54 to play int he first _ ...,...,_ ee..,tral tied it up early in the se:n=:d quarter, taking advantage of a a_at nustake. Defensive end J.E. e~ ~ot his hands on a pass by -up quarterback Garrett Tapper .-eeltd the pass in for an intercep– tion t..-~n rumbled 25 yards to the \ildcat 5. .'entav Eiland ran three times for me 'Core; getting in from a yard out. Q..;.)ey s kick was blocked, but ECCC had it hed with 10:32 to play before halthme. , After an exchange of punts, Pearl Rlver embarked on wha t would prove to be the winning touchdown drive, going 90 yards in 13 plays. A pass inter– terence penalty on a third down play from mid field kept the drive alive, then Forrest hit Jonathan Eiland for a 20- yard scoring strike. Greg Bryant's PAT made it 13-6 with 1:21 to play in the period. A short kickoff, however, gave the Warriors the ball at midfield. A 9-yard pass to Josh Viverette, plus a I S-yard penalty for roughing the passer put East Central at the Wildcat 29, and after three consecutive incompletions, Osley nailed a 47-yard field goal with 13 second to play in the hal( Midway through the third quarter,

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