East Mississippi rallies past Itawamba

By By Parrish Alford / special to The Star
Sept. 29, 2002
FULTON There was no baseball score for Itawamba this week, and the Indians weren't safe at home either.
A long kick return and a touchdown pass under duress rallied East Mississippi past Itawamba 23-13 in a North Division community college football game at Lambert Stadium Saturday.
After sliding past Northwest 6-5 in their division opener, the Indians' last-minute comeback attempt was halted with a 70-yard fumble return for a touchdown by East Mississippi linebacker OBryan Brandy.
ICC dropped to 1-3 overall, 1-1 in division play. East Mississippi improved to 2-2, 1-1.
In working to overcome a 13-9 deficit, the Lions got a 62-yard kick return to the ICC 28 by John Henderson. Two plays later quarterback Daniel Spinks passed 38 yards to Josh Carwile for the go-ahead points.
East Mississippi had an apparent touchdown wiped out the play before when it was ruled receiver Niko Edwards did not have control of the ball in the end zone. Plus, the Lions were called for holding to move the ball 10 yards back. It was a case of the Lions cashing in on an opportunity after being contained much of the game by the ICC defense.
Protection was something ICC quarterback Dusty Finley didn't have when he coughed it up at the end. Trailing by three with 6 minutes, 33 seconds remaining, Finley guided the Indians from their 20 to the East Mississippi 22.
But on first down he was hit by linebackers Ken Hollis and Joe White. Brandy's touchdown return made it a 10-point game with 1:17 to play.
Finley, injured in the Northwest game, was unable to practice during the week and did not enter the game until the second half as the Indians trailed 6-0. In two quarters of work he completed 10 of 15 pass attempts for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
The second score covered 59 yards to a wide-open Aaron Knowles and gave the Indians a 13-9 lead with 7:24 left.
The Lions scored first on a 12-yard run by Marvin Sommerville with 5:11 left in the first half. The PAT was no good, and the score remained 6-0.
The score capped a 16-play 80-yard drive that ran 7:19 off the clock. After having little success with Sommerville on the ground earlier, pass completions along the way loosened up the Indians a bit. East Mississippi was 4-for-4 on third-down conversions on the drive.
ICC's best first-half drives both ended in turnovers.
The Indians were marching with the opening kick on five straight runs by Odie Armstrong. But on second-and-3 from the Lions' 37, freshman quarterback Don Rich's pass to the left sideline was underthrown and intercepted by Julis Randle at the 11.
The Indians were moving again late in the second quarter with two more Armstrong runs and a 16-yard completion by Rich.
But on third-and-1 from the East 48, Rich fumbled the snap, and the Lions recovered.
Armstrong had 72 yards on 11 carries in the first half. He finished with 121 yards on 24 carries.