East Central's home opener moved to Saturday at 2 p.m.

By Staff
From staff reports
September 15, 2004
After getting their first win of the season last week at Itawamba, the East Central Community College Warriors launch MACJC South Division play Saturday with the Southwest Mississippi Bears coming to Decatur.
The contest, originally slated for Thursday night, has been pushed back to 2 p.m. Saturday due to Hurricane Ivan.
ECCC knocked off Itawamba 10-7 last week with freshman Ryan Gale's 52-yard field goal being the difference.
"We're excited to get our first win," ECCC head coach Terry Underwood said. "We felt like Itawamba was a quality team.
"Offensively, we improved a lot. We had about 330 total yards with 270 on the ground. We moved the ball well, but didn't get it in the end zone as much as we wanted to. We've got to get better in the red zone area.
"Defensively, we played an outstanding game. They had 21 rushing attempts for 32 yards and 130 yards passing. Any time you hold anybody under 200 yards total offense, that's pretty doggone smokey.
"Our kicking game was good. Ryan Gale had seven punts for a 39-yard average and pinned them inside the 10 twice in addition to the 52-yard field goal.
"It was a good win and hopefully we can continue to improve."
The Bears come in 0-2 with a 9-0 loss to Northeast Mississippi and a 27-20 setback to Northwest Mississippi.
"That's very misleading," Underwood said of the Bears' record. "They're a lot better team than their record shows. They squandered all kinds of opportunities against Northeast.
"What they've been having, more or less, is growing pains. They've only got 13 sophomores on the roster.
"They're very talented. Defensively, they run to the ball well. Offensively, they come at you in a lot of ways. We've got our hands full.
"For us, it's our first home game which I hope will motivate us even more.
"We expect a very tough contest."
Southwest averages 128 yards rushing and 137 yards passing. ECCC is rushing for a league-best 228.5 yards while passing for 69. ECCC's Terrance McFadden is second in the state, rushing for 116 yards per game.
The Warriors rank third in the state against the run, allowing 73 yards while giving up 161 through the air. Southwest allows a league-worst 218 yards on the ground and 97.5 through the air.
Marty Stamper
East Mississippi at Itawamba
The hard part is over for East Mississippi Community College.
The Lions are 0-2 after losses to Hinds Community College and Pearl River Community College, but that two-game stretch represented arguably the toughest contests on East Mississippi's schedule. Hinds was state runner-up in 2003, and Pearl River is the defending state champion.
East Mississippi will get a shot at its first win on Thursday when the Lions travel to Fulton to face Itawamba Community College. The Indians are also 0-2 after losses to Pearl River and East Central.
East Mississippi's defense will spend much of the night trying to contain Itawamba quarterback Ten Topps, who single-handedly created more offense than his team's net offense. Against East Central in the Indians' 10-7 loss, Topps threw for 148 yards on 18-of-29 passing and also totaled 22 rushing yards. As a team, Itawamba tallied 150 net yards.
Topps accounted for the Indians' only score against East Central on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Lamarcus Windham.
Will Bardwell
Hinds at Jones
Hurricane Ivan has put Jones Junior College's Thursday night game at Hinds on hold for now.
As of press time Wednesday it was not known if the game would be moved to Saturday or would be played as scheduled.
Both Jones and Hinds stand at 2-0 and were to have kicked off at 7 p.m. in Raymond. JCJC coach Parker Dykes is very impressed with what he has seen on films.
"They are the best team I've seen," Dykes said. "Offense, defense, special teams they do it all. We are going to have to be at our best when we play them."
Steve Swogetinsky
JCJC claimed a 19-6 victory over Holmes Community College last Saturday in Ellisville. JCJC sophomore quarterback Brett Hyatt threw for two touchdown passes, and Voncarie Owens scored another on a 33-yard run.
"Holmes had a good football team," Dykes said. "We have plenty of room for improvement, but we are happy to be 2-0."
Steve Swogetinsky