2005

East Central freshman running back David McCants was once again the workhorse for the Warrior offense. McCants rushed for 71 yards on a workmanlike 27 carries and a touchdown to lead East Central to a 28-14 wm over Jones County Junior College.

Fre~hman running back Da\ id McCants of Tuscaloo:-.a (Ala.) Coun– ty -who was again the workhorse for Ea~t Central w1th 71 )ards on 27 car– ric~ and one score - put the Warriors in the lead for good with his 12-yard tally carl) in the third ~tanza. The ~hort scoring drive was set up by a Jones fumble at the Bobcat 27-yard– line. The Wamor-. added two scores in the tina! ~tanta on runs by freshman running back Desmond Graham of Noxapater. Graham's first tally came on a t\\o-yard burst with 6:20 remaining, cappmg a 16-play. 78-yard march. Key play~ in the drive included Gra– ham's nine-yard run followed by eight- and mne-yard gains by fuJI– back Derrick Qualls of Forest and McCants' seven-yard scamper. The march also included seven-yard pass– es Jrom Lowery to tight end Anthony Stanford of Louisville and Qualls, the latter of which gave EC first and goal at the one. Graham's other score came on a

30-yard burst \\lith 3:19 remaming and was set up by the Bobcat\ fourth miscue of the evening. Sophomore free safetv Jarius Neal of Pickens (Ala.) Co-unty picJ...ed off back-up quarterback Petey Thigpen- who replaced starter Brett llyau- near midfield and EC scored five plays later. Neal made his third pick of the evening on the game's final play. Linebacker Andrew Harrington of Kemper County also recorded an interception. Other top defenders \\ere line– backer Paul Tolbert of Chnch (Ga.) County and defens1ve end Greg Hathorn of Lousiville. \\ho each had two quarterback sacks. The Jones offense - which was held in check most of the evening - went 73 yards in l0 plays during the game's final three minutes with Thig– pen finding wide receiver Michael Thigpen on a 21-yard TD strike on fourth and 12 with nine seconds remaining. Michael Swancey added his second PAT. The Bobcats finished the contest

with 151 yards passing and just 76 yard~ on the ground. Jones had eight first downs. East Central, which had 15 first downs. had 102 )ards rushlllg and 143 yards pa-.sing for a total of 245. Sophomore punter Ryan Gale of Oak (Ala.) ~1ountain High School punted eight llmes for a 38.4-yard average. His longest effort \\as a 57- }arder wtucb pinned Jones on its O\\n nine-yard-line. Gale. who made all four PATs. miSSed a 36-) ard field goal w1th 5:48 left before halftime. The Warriors close out the 2005 campaign by tra\ cling to Southwest Mississippi Community College Thursday. \lovember 2. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on the Summit campus. The Bears defeated Co-Lin 36-19 Thursday to improve to 3-3 and 3-2.