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Football Game Day

Football Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information

Bears to host Mississippi Gulf Coast

Things do not get any easier for the Bears this week as they return home to John I. Hurst Stadium to host the Bulldogs of Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The Bears come into the game with a mark of 1-4 (0-3 in the MACJC South) after a 51-21 loss at Jones College. The Bulldogs are 3-2, 0-2, after a 38-13 loss at Co-Lin.

Bears' head coach Tim Stowers said the Bulldogs' defenders are "very athletic and they disrupt offensive football plays very well. They're fundamentally sound and they play hard each and every play."

"We're going to have to really come off the football," Stowers said, "and make good decisions with the ball in our hands and do a good job of blocking them so we can get four plus yards every time we run the "B" back. We're slowly getting to that, but we haven't quite accomplished it."
Through five games, the Bulldogs have held opponents to 255 yards of total offense with less than 100 of that coming via the pass. What will it take for the Bears to overcome such a stingy defense?

"Gulf Coast is very similar to Jones College's defense," Stowers said. "They don't give up yards very easily, running or throwing, and they're very athletic on the defensive side of the ball. Once again, we'll have to adhere to our assignments and really play with a passion for the game to be able to move the ball against a really outstanding defense like Gulf Coast."
 
Winning the turnover battle seems to be the major key to a win for the Bears this week. "If you can win the turnover battle, you can win about 85 percent of the time," Stowers commented. "We've got to do a better job of creating turnovers on the defensive side of the ball. We've got to have takeaways. If the ball's in the air, it's ours. We've got to knock the ball loose from the ball carrier and we haven't done a super job of that so far this year, but we've got to continue to work in that direction."
 
Bears' defensive coordinator Kelby Bowman said the Bulldogs "seem to be very multiple on offense; they give a lot of different looks. They have a couple of good running backs, they have good receivers (and) they also have a quarterback who can throw the ball as well as run (it). They've got a really good offensive line."
 
"So," Bowman said, "I'm expecting those guys to come out and be the Gulf Coast they've been in the past and try to establish the run first."
 
After five games, the Bulldogs are picking up over 400 yards of offense per game. What will it take to slow them down?
 
"I think we've just got to play assignment football," Bowman said. "When you look back on yards you've given up, it's always a mistake here (and) a mistake there, maybe four-five plays that determine if you win or lose and then it determines the opponent's yardage."

"One thing we've done is give up big plays," Bowman continued, "and that we can't do. So, we've just got to be sound with that we're doing. We've got to play four quarters. We've got to have 100 percent effort from our (players) and we've got to be locked in."
 
"We had a lot of (guys) play last week," Bowman went on, "and those guys who roll in have got to be ready as well. This is all about fundamentals; we've got to be fundamentally sound on Thursday's and Saturday's."
 
Kickoff Thursday night in Summit is set for 7:00. The game can be heard on WAKH 105.7FM, (k106), k106.net and the k106 app and can be seen live at southwestbearatheltics.com.
 
 
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