2008

Southwest grabbed an lighted oy Taylor 1 s 23-yara early 3-0 lead after Les pass completion to wide re– Mulkey connected on a 37- ceiver Kendrick May of_ yard field goal with 9:30 left Tuscaloosa County (Ala.) in first-period action. High School, which gave Neshoba Central product EC possession on the Derek Crenshaw tied the Southwest 32. Taylor also contest with his 22-yard connected on a 10-yard field goal early in the sec- strike to wide receiver An– end quarter, capping a 16- tonic Hughes of Morton at play, 90-yard drive. One of the Bears' 19-yard-line. the key plays during the Southwest took the lead for march ~as a 24-yard pass - good in the third period, on completion from quarter- McCall's 15-yard touch– back Emmanuel Taylor to down •pass to Brinson - ........ ~- Johnson with 8:22 remain-

ing. The 70-yard drive took just six plays and was set up after the Bears blocked Crenshaw's 42-yard field goal attempt. EC reached the Southwest two-yard– line but a holding penalty followed by a quarterback sack forced EC to attempt the long field goal. The Bears were set up for another score late in the third period but the Warrior defense stopped the drive on fourth and one at the EC 10-yard-line. Southwest would not be denied the end zone late in the contest when running back Ricky McGee tallied on a 22-yard scamper with 1:47 left. Mulkey added the PAT. The short 22-yard drive was set up by Roted– drick Cotton's 28-yard punt return. For EC, Taylor was the top offensive performer. He completed 11 of 24 passes for 124 yards and one score. May was the top re– ceiver with four catches for 41 yards. Taylor rushed 23 times for 79 yards. EC had 264 total yards and 16 first downs.

East Central running back Derrick Cede (30) fights for yardage during theWarriors' 20·9 homecoming loss to Southwest Saturday afternoon at Bailey Stadium. Cade Is a product of Tuscaloosa Central (Ala.) High School. Homecoming activities Northeast

Lauderdale product Maurice Langston, which gave EC possession on the Southwest 39. Tay– lor, a product of Early County High School in Blakely, Ga., also had sev– eral rushing gains during the drive, including an 11- yard scamper to the Bears' 28. Southwest regained the lead on Mulkey's 36-yard field goal with 5:55 left until halftime. The Bears took possession on the EC 41 but the drive stalled on the 19 thanks to key defensive plays by safety Jarvis Wil– son of Central Lafourche High School in Raceland, La., who deflected a Ryan McCall pass on first down, and Warrior linebacker Brad Ellis of Forest and de– fensive end Josh Lewis, a product of Tuscaloosa County (Ala.) High School, who dropped running back Jamall Jackson for a three– yard loss on second down. McCall threw an incom– plete pass on third down. East Central took its only lead of the day when Langston crossed the goal line on a four-yard run with 1:34 left before halftime. Crenshaw's PAT was not ~ successful. The scoring drive covered 59 yards in nine plays and was high:

ended on a disappointing note at East Central Com– munity College in Decatur as the Warriors fell 20-9 to Southwest Mississippi Community College Satur– day afternoon at Bailey Stadium. East Central, which dropped to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in MACJC South Divi– sion action, held a 9-6 half– time advantage over the Bears who rallied to claim their first season victory fol– lowing three defeats. First-year head coach Steve Cheatham stressed the importance of team unity as the Warriors try to close out the 2008 cam– paign on a positive note. "We've got to come to– gether as a team and until we do, we're going to keep doing just what we're doing right now," Cheatham said following the division de– feat. The Warriors take a break from league action this week by traveling to North– east Mississippi Commu– nity College Thursday night. Kickoff for the home– coming contest is set for 7 p.m. on the Booneville campus. The Tigers are 0- 5 following their 30-7 loss to Holmes Community Col– lege last week.

. NESHOBA Dl NEWTON RE McCall completed 24 of 38 passes for 256 yards and one score. Southwest had 83 yards rushing and col– lected 18 first downs. MERIDIAN STAR ----------------- CLARION-LEDGER / THE PHILADELPHIA-N-_~-,fZ- / ____ ....,_..:::.._- - _- _-