Vicksburg’s Tyler Henderson helps MGCCC to a win over EMCC

PERKINSTON, Miss. (MGCCC Athletics) — No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast piled up 547 yards of total offense and clamped down on North Division-power East Mississippi’s offense after a shaky start, streaking to a 41-21 win at historic A.L. May Memorial Stadium.

Quarterback Landon Varnes (So., Brandon/Brandon) threw for 427 yards, running back Alan Woods (Fr., Jacksonville Fla./University Christian) scored three times, and The Regulators held the Lions under 400 yards in the MACCC opener.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize the pressure and the anxiety that the coaches and players still lead up to the first game at this level, especially because you just don’t know how it’s going to go,” Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. “You have no clue how good you are; you don’t know anything about your opponent. So it’s really a relief just to get it over.”

Tyler Henderson (So., Vicksburg/Vicksburg) had 10 catches for 186 yards, and Mason Beverly (Fr., Hattiesburg/Purvis) caught five for 126 yards. Both had 50-plus-yard receptions.

Varnes completed 28-of-41 passes and the Bulldogs averaged over 10 yards per attempt.

East Mississippi scored the first two times they had the ball, but the Bulldogs kept answering. Varnes escaped third-down pressure to his left, then threw back across his body to find Beverly, who broke a tackle and evaded Lions for a 62-yard score.

The broke serve on the third Lions possession, then took a 20-14 lead on a 5-yard catch by Henderson midway through the second quarter. They nearly added another before halftime after Jabari McWilliams (So., Picayune/Picayune) stripped a Lions running back and took off for a 25-yard return to get the Bulldogs started inside the EMCC 30.

“The first quarter of the first game of the year is going to start off a little slow, but we knew that wasn’t gonna keep us down,” said Jabari McWilliams (So., Picayune/Picayune). “We made another gameplan, and we executed it.”

Woods took over in the second half, scoring three times in the first 15:48 after the break. He had a 14-yard run, a 2-yard run, and a sensational 45-yard scamper.

“My O-line did their job; I did my job,” the Georgia Southern transfer said. “We ended up making a play. I really don’t remember. Everything happened so fast. I couldn’t do it without my front five, so I appreciate them.”

Taurean Davis (So., Quitman County/DeSoto Central) led Gulf Coast with eight tackles, and Bryant Ausmer (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) had seven with a sack in his first collegiate game. Willie Breland (So., Wiggins/Stone) also had seven tackles.

Gulf Coast will play another non-division opponent at Perk next week when Mississippi Delta visits. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. Thursday.

“We’ve got to get more guys ready,” Wright said. “Coming into the first game as an experienced junior college coach, I know your sophomores are going to be the ones that you really have to rely on. You saw that play out tonight, especially with Mason and Tyler in the passing game. We’ve got to get more guys up to their level. They’re capable of doing it. We have talent, but we just have to get over that freshman freshness.”