2008

ECCC Warriors cruise past Northeast for first season win ____.· c ......... ) e;-2}__

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MAJO South Division.

East Central carried a com– manding 24-0 lead into the dres'>ing room at halftime and wa!>ted little ume in padding its ad\antage early in the third pe– riod. thank'> to Ttger miscues. Northea'>t had taken posc;,es– sion on its 43 following the sec– ond-half kickoff. but fumbled on first down and Warrior line– backer Randy Carter recovered the loose pigskin at the Tiger 34. On EC's first play of the sec– ond half- as was the case on the game's opening play- the War– riors found the end zone as Tay– lor and Alley connected on their 34-yard scoring pa!)S play. Back-up quarterback Tyler McNeil of Neshoba Central di– rected the Warrior offense for a series during third-quarter ac– tion and picked up positive yardage before giving up pos– ~;ession. The Ttger. were m position to '>COre their flfSt point<> follow– ing the exchange of possession but Warrior cornerback Zerrick Houston of Philadelphia nipped See ECCC, page 9A

By STEVE SWOGETINSKY Sports Editor ---- The liN play from scrim– mage set the tone for East Cen– tml Communil) College's 38-7 ''hipping of Northeast Missis– <;tppi Community CoUege Thul"'da} night in Booneville. Quarterback Emmanuel Tay– lor hooked up with Maurice Langston for an 85-yard touch– down sttike - the first of four TD passes thrown by the fresh– man signal caller from Georgia and the first of three scores by Lang~ton, a former standout at Northeast Lauderdale High School in Mendian. East Central's easy victory wa' especially sweet for first– >ear head coach Steve Cheatham. who earned his flfSt on-the-field \\in as the Warrior head mentor. Ea.,t Ccmral "a" notified earher in the da} that Hinds Commurut} College had for– fctted it-. 35-::!.1 deci!.ion over the Warrior. due to an ineligible playa. thu., pulling EC'!> record at 2--l overall and 1-2 in the ·

Cheatham, obviously elated at capturing two 'ictorie~ on the same da). offered praise for his offensive and defensive umts for the ..team victory" over Northeast. •'1 was really proud of our players ... they were so excited and deserved the win," Cheatham said. "We played pretty close to a complete game on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game. 1t wa~ really a team effort. We had a good week of practice and l thought we would play well." Cheatham said the Warriors received an unexpected boost when learning about the Hinds forfeit earlier in the day. '·Not many teams win two games in one day," Cheatham said with a smile. Following East Central's first score. the Warrior defense stopped a Ttger sconng threat when defensive end Cedric Hall of Carthage sacked Northeast quarterback Emanuel Frances for a four-yanl loss on fourth and eight from the EC 32-yard

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run and then Fred Carothers scored on a 19-yard run. . Winona scored early in the thtrd qLtarter to make the score 27-21. The Rockets came back later in the period when Cantrell connected with Terrance Hill. who was all alone in the end zone, on a 24-yard TD pa~s. Cantrell scored the two-pouu comer.ton and Neshoba Cen– tral Jed 35-::!.1. Ne'>hoba Central closed out the scoring \\hen Cantrell ~cored on a 2-l-yard run and Hud-.on hit pa} dirt on a 22- )Md run. ...We played prett) good:· Fnend said. ..We have been 1-.nock.mg people off the ball ., 0 ti"IC) dove at our feet. But we ~and led it. Now we go back to work on Monday try to get bet- RNAL - -----

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ers. Cantrell added 101yard!> on I ~ carries. Tabb had a busy mght. He completed five passes for 10 I yards and rushed 10 times for 57 yards and added long punt return as well. Josh Stewrut had 13 tackles on defense. and Jacob Gilbert added ll .

"We real\} appreciate the suppot1 we have gouen last two weeks while we have been on road. It is a tremendous credit to our fruls, the way they have fol– lowed Lhis team." ~udson had I07 yards on 29 came~ to lead the Rocket ru h- --

ECCC Continued from page SA J ~o'c plan., 10 the bud when he ~ntcrcepted Jeremy Yates, pa~;., ( 10 the end tone \\ ith 5: 15 left in Northeast did n.:ach the end l tone earl} 111 the fourth -.tan7a on Jercm~ Cannon\ five-yard ' run. cappmg a nine-play, 55- yard drive. . ~~XL up for the WarTiors is a dtvtston showdown with nation– ally ranked Mississippi Gulf C?ast Community College Ktd.·oll lor the homcwmino "" 4 the third J>~:riod. '

NESHOB~ DEMOCRAT ~ NEWTON RECORD -------- MERIDIAN·STAR -------- - CLARION-LEDGER - ------- THE PHILADELPHIAN -------