East Central loses defensive battle to Northeast, 14-7
By By Marty Stamper / EMG sports assistant
Sept. 13, 2002
DECATUR The East Central Community College Warriors dropped to 0-2 with Thursday's 14-7 loss to the Tigers of Northeast Mississippi.
The contest was a defensive struggle most of the night as Northeast finished with 209 total yards and ECCC had only 136.
The first quarter saw both teams stage a punting contest as both the Warriors and Tigers had only 37 total yards apiece after the first 15 minutes. Twenty-six of ECCC's yards came on a pass from Kevin Stephens to Kentay Eiland.
Northeast put together a 92-yard scoring drive to grab a 6-0 lead in the second quarter. The Warriors had the Tigers facing third-and-6 only to get penalized for a dead ball personal foul. Matthew Stevenson hooked up with T.J. Seago for a 27-yard gain to the ECCC 35. On third-and-goal at the 7, Chris Kelley ran a reverse around left end for the touchdown with 6:37 remaining in the first half. A bad snap spoiled the extra point.
At halftime, Northeast had 114 total yards to 70 for the Warriors.
ECCC threatened to start the second half as Ronald Smith fielded a short kick and returned it to the Tigers 32. Three plays lost a yard and Jeremiah Gillette punted into the end zone on fourth down.
Brandon Roberson punted the Warriors back to their 1 late in the third quarter and a fumble by Eiland that eventually rolled out of the end zone for a safety put Northeast up 8-0 with 3:29 left in the period.
Northeast returned the free kick to the ECCC 44, but was unable to advance on the Warriors' defense.
Lee Hayes, however, put the Tigers back in business when he picked off a Stephens pass and returned it 12 yards to the ECCC 28. John Hicks rumbled up the middle from three yards out with 10:05 left in the game to put the Tigers up 14-0. The PAT was wide right.
Aided by a 45-yard kickoff return by Pete McBride, the Warriors covered 46 yards and got their only touchdown of the night. Back-to-back pass interference and defensive holding penalties gave the Warriors their fourth and fifth first downs of the game and set up a 23-yard touchdown toss from Stephens to Eiland. Travares Osley kicked the extra point to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 8:16 remaining.
Hal Kerstetter was just short on a 44-yard field goal attempt for Northeast with 5:22 left.
Stephens suffered an interception by Tyus Jackson to end the Warriors' next drive and a pick by Eric Holcombe on ECCC's final possession. In between, Jed Wright recovered a Tiger fumble at the Northeast 44 for the Warriors.
Both teams punted nine times. ECCC had only seven first downs for the game.
ECCC opens South Division play at Pearl River on Thursday. Northeast beat Pearl River 13-6 in the opening week.
