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Southwest Mississippi Community College

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Bears fall to visiting Coahoma in season-opener

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Neil McLaurin
jucoweekly.org

Football | 9/1/2017 7:43:00 AM

Four turnovers and injuries to several starters bit the Bears hard Thursday night as they opened the 2017 season with a 35-20 home loss to the Coahoma Tigers.
 
The Tigers jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first quarter when quarterback Trey Mitchell found Eric Moore on the receiving end of a 68-yard touchdown pass with 14:45 still on the clock. Mujahad Imbrihim booted the extra point.
 
With 0:08 showing, the Tigers sacked Bears' quarterback Brady Anderson in the end zone for a safety to leave the visitors with a 9-0 advantage heading to the second quarter.
 
The Bears closed the gap to 9-7 in the second quarter when Anderson connected with Neil McLaurin for a 45-yard scoring pass with 11:36 before the end of the half.
Gunar Robinson added the PAT.
 
With 8:10 on the clock, the Tigers increased their lead to 16-7 when Josh Johnson carried the ball seven yards to pay dirt. Ibrihim again notched the extra point.
 
The Tigers added the final points of the half, with 1:26 on the clock, when Jayshon Foster hauled in a pass from Mitchell and dashed 14 yards into the end zone. The extra point was no good, leaving the visitors with a 22-7 halftime lead.
 
The Bears got narrowed their deficit to 22-20 in the third quarter. With 8:21 on the clock, Anfernee Jordan intercepted a Mitchell pass, the first of his two picks in the game, and raced 46 yards into the end zone. A two-point conversion failed, leaving the Bears down 22-13.
 
Then, with 4:40 showing, Chase Hughes closed out a four-play, 45-yard drive with a one-yard scamper into the end zone. Robinson again added the extra point, leaving the Bears with a two-point deficit with one quarter remaining.
 
That would be as close as the Bears would get, however, as the Tigers added rushing touchdowns from Jaylin Jones and Johnson in the final quarter, and Ibrihim added the PAT's, to leave town with the win.
 
"I think whenever you lose that many starters and you take into account what we lost last week, we're thin," said Bears head man Tucker Peavey. "The biggest (disappointment) was the way that we turned the ball over and, whenever you've got a freshman quarterback, he obviously didn't get many reps because he didn't come into the game as the starter (Anderson took over under center after starter Juwan Adams left the game with a first-quarter injury)."
 
"But," Peavey continued, "Brady did some really good things in (pre-season) camp and he's a solid quarterback so this (loss) is by no means on him. I think everybody's just got to rally around the young quarterback. I think we can play much better up front on offense and we've just got to go back to work and it's created some opportunities for some other guys to get more playing time."
 
Nakia Trotter, Jr., led the Bears rushing game with 72 yards on 13 carries. Hughes toted the ball 10 times for 47 yards and a score.
 
Before departing the game, Adams completed four of six passes for 84 yards. Anderson completed five of 18 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted twice. McLaurin hauled in five passes for 101 yards and a score to top the Bears' receiving corps.
 
The Bears registered 18 first downs in the game and were penalized two times for 20 yards. Robinson punted the ball three times for a 39-yard average.
 
Johnson topped the Tigers' ground game with 129 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. Foster had six receptions for 60 yards and a score while Moore had four catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Tigers picked up 18 first downs and had 69 yards on 10 penalties. Ibrihim punted five times for a 25.2 yard average.
 
The Bears return to action on September 7 when they host the Holmes Bulldogs. Kickoff at John I. Hurst Stadium is set for 7:00.
 
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