Despite possessing the ball almost 15:00 longer than their hosts, the Southwest Bears were unable to capitalize on the advantage as they fell 16-10 in MACJC South Division football action Thursday night.
With the loss, the Bears fell to 0-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Division. East Central moved to 1-3 and 1-1.
After the teams traded punts to open the game, Southwest began their second possession on their own 45 yard line. Moving the ball to the Warriors’ seven yard line, the Bears’ drive then stalled and Paul Johnson came on to boot a 25-yard field goal with 5:23 showing on the clock to give them a 3-0 lead after the first quarter.
The majority of the second quarter was a defensive struggle as neither team could mount a meaningful drive. The Warriors finally put something together late, and scored the only points of the quarter, as they began a drive at their own 31 yard line. Consuming 3:03 on 11 plays, the hosts took a 7-3 lead when Keshun Shipp danced into the end zone from the one yard line, and Austin Franklin kicked the extra point, with 0:20 before the half.
An interception allowed East Central to extend their lead to 14-3 in the third quarter. Chris Apperwhite intercepted a Schyler Walker pass and returned it 27 yards to the Bears’ 28. Shipp then ran to pay dirt on the next play and Franklin added the PAT with 11:40 showing on the clock.
Southwest finally put together a sustained drive on the ensuing possession to close the gap to 14-10 after three quarters. Starting on their own 27, the Bears drove 73 yards in just over 1:00. Walker completed six passes on the march, the last one an eight-yard scoring strike to Chris Cooley with 7:30 to play in the quarter. Johnson notched the extra point.
The teams traded possession in the fourth quarter with neither able to find produce any offense. The only points came with 3:55 left in the game when East Central’s Layton Holcomb sacked Walker in the end zone for a safety to give the Warriors their final margin of victory.
“We had all kinds of chances (to win),” said Southwest head coach Charles Anthony, “but left them on the field. We couldn’t score in the red zone, we couldn’t protect for field goals (the Bears had two blocked), we didn’t tackle consistently. We had every opportunity and couldn’t cash in. I feel like we left a lot of points on the field.”
“Things don’t get any easier (the rest of the season),” Anthony continued. “They only get tougher.” He added, “You find out more about your character when things are going bad than when they’re going good.”
The Bears picked up 319 yards on the night. Walker led the Southwest offense with 251 passing yards as he completed 25 of 46 throws with one touchdown and one interception. Renard Williams had seven catches for 42 yards while Korey Jones hauled in five passes for 78 yards.
Cooley had five catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Jerome Stewart added five receptions while Laderick Turner had three. Turner carried the ball 21 times on the night for 93 yards to top the Bears running game.
The Bears registered 21 first downs in the game and were penalized 11 times for 90 yards. Justin Holt punted six times for 33.7 yards.
Tony Johnson had 10 tackles, with two for loss, to pace the Bears’ defense. Steven Joiner had six tackles, an interception and two pass break ups.
Shipp carried the ball 29 times, for 156 yards and two touchdowns, in helping the Warriors gain 352 yards in the game. East Central totaled 20 first downs and were penalized 10 times for 83 yards. Franklin punted six times for 39.3 yards.
The Bears return home to John I. Hurst Stadium on September 27 when they host Pearl River, 34-24 losers to Coahoma Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 7:00.
