2004

Gale's 52-Yard field lifts Ryan Gale's 52-yard field goal early in the third period provided East Central Community College with its margin of victory and the Warriors' first win of the 2004 campaign- a 10-7 deci- sion over Itawamba Community College Thursday night in Fulton. Gale, a freshman kicker/punter from Central. but it L definitely the longest kick r,~e seen :,ince I've been coaching here,·· Underwood said. Underwood, now in his sev– enth season M head coach, said he was also pleased with his team's overall effort, especially following a heart– breaking 14-12 loss to Northwest Mississippi doing is scoring in the red zone, and we've·got to learn to convert. But we did have over 330 yards total offense, thanks not only to our offen– sive backs but also our offen– sive line, which did a great job. Overall, it was just a total team win, and the bot– tom line is that our kids would not be denied. We're going to enjoy this win for a day or two then get ready for Southwest," Underwood said. Freshman tailback

Birmingham, Ala., is still hampered by a groin injury, but it's obvious he is on the road to recovery, much to the delight of head coach Terry Underwood. "He still has a slight tear in the groin, and he's about 70 or 80 percent recovered from his injury. He had not kicked for about twoweeks, but dur– ing pre-game workouts he told me he was feeling good so we decided to let him kick. His field goal was obviously the difference in the game. I knew he had the ability to make it and I was not scared to send him in. I don't know if his kick is a record for East

Community College in the season opener, a game the Warriors had several oppor– tunities to win. "As far as the game itself, I was proud of the effort our team put forth and that we found a way to win. I thought our defense was once again outstanding. as we limited Itawamba to about 150 vards total offense. I was espe"cially proud of Sed Eichelberger and Brian McNair who made a big-time play \vith the game on the line. Offensively, I thought we improved a lot; we did a lot of good things during the game. But the biggest thing we are not

Terrance McFadden was again the workhorse for East Central, as he put the Warriors ahead for good with his six-yard tally with 3:50 remaining in the opening stanza. Gale added the PAT. McFadden, a 5-10, 205 product of American Heritage High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., topped the 100-yard mark in rushing for the second straight week. He totaled 109 yards on 23 car– ries against Itawamba and rambled for 119 yards on 24

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