2004

East Central takes wet win over Copiah-Lincoln 1 By Marty Stamper . ' drear.

drizzlv afternoon. Ea~t L • ntra' and ( ptah– Lincoin provided quite a few thrills before the Warriors posted a 31-20 MACJC South Division win. ECCC improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the South half, while Co-Lin fell to 1-5 and 0-3. "It was a great team win," ECCC head coach Terry Underwood said. "It wasn't the prettiest thing, but the bottom line is we found· a way to get it done and we live for another week. Hopefully, we can build on it. "Co-Lin has a good football team. They gave us all we wanted, but I'm proud o( our guys for finding a way to win: We got s~g~ant in the second half, but all m all. were JUSt glad to get the win." The 11-point final margin wasn't settled until ECCC's Kelvin Horne broke a 32-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds remaining. Darryl Mapp had given the Warriors a first· and-10 with a 7-yard gain on the previous play. The Warriors looked to have a safe 24-14 lead after Tony Edison stopped a Co-Lin drive with an interception in~ide the ECCC 10. How– ever, the Wolves forced a punt and needed just one play to close to within 24-20 when Victor Williams hit Daryl Johnson with a 65-yard scoring bomb down the middle. Edison blocked Chris Blackwell's PAT, leaving the Wolves down by four points with 2':17left. 1l1e Wolves took a 7-0 lead on the game's iirst possession, driving 62 yards in eight plays. julius Roberson scored on a 10-yard run with 11:08 left in ilie first quarter. ECCC answered with an 11-play, 70-yard drive on its first possession with Cameron Tawater hauling in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Robbie Morse with 6:16 left in the first quarter. Jay McMillin's extra point was no good as Co-Lin Jed 7-6. 'The Warriors went up 9-7 on a 33-yard field goal by McMillin with 12:47 to go in the second quarter. Morse injured a knee on the 12-play drive that covered 65 yards and did not return. Jarius Neal took over and had the best day of his brief career at ECCC. On the Warriors' next possession, Neal hit a diving Derrick Harris in the right corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown. After the Wolves were penalized fo r having 12 men on tl1e field, Mapp ran in a two-point conversion for a 17-7 lead with 6:18left in the half. "I thought]arius did outstanding," Under– wood said. "We've played him more at receiver than at quarterback the last two games, but he gets his reps at quar terback during the week.·when Robbie went down, he stepped in and did an outstanding job and Jed our team to the points it got. I was real proud

PHOTO BY KYLE CARTER /THE MERIDIAN STAR THERE IT GOES

East Central Community College's Robbie Morse throws a pass during the first half of the Warriors' 31-20 win over Co-Lin on Saturday afternoon. of him." Co-Lin closed to within 17-14 just 73 sec· onds into th<: second half when Roberson scored on a 2-yard run. A fumble recovery by the Wolves at the ECCC 20 set up the short four-play drive. ECCC answered the challenge with a quick score as Neal hit Harris over tl1e middle at tl1e 50 and t11e sophomore speedster pulled away and found nothing ~head but daylight for a 63- yard touchdown. McMillin's PAT gave the Warriors a 24-14 lead with 12:44 still to go in the third period. The Wolves had their chances, but were unable to cash in. A block below the waist penalty on first-and-goal from the 10 resulted in a fourth-down pass coming up two yards shy ~ the end zone with 8:31 to go in the game.