Box Score PERKINSTON — After going toe-to-toe with host No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast through the first three quarters of Saturday's contest, the Bears ran out of gas in the end and couldn't keep pushing forward, falling 40-23 to the Bulldogs.
 
"We just have to do a better job of finishing," Southwest head coach Les George said. "In games like this, little mistakes can hurt you big time. We had some plays that we did not execute well and that is on us as coaches."
 
The Bears (2-2, 1-1 MACCC South) fell behind early as the Bulldogs drove down the field and scored on a short touchdown pass making it a 7-0 deficit for the visitors.
 
Southwest answered with a successful drive itself getting a 43-yard field goal from Sergio Neyra making it a 7-3 game.
 
Following a stop by the Bear defense on the ensuing drive, the offense looked to follow suit, but a costly interception swung the momentum back to the home side and the following drive ended in another touchdown for the Bulldogs which came on a 29-yard pass.
 
After a Southwest punt the Bears got a spark when Kivan Stewart snagged a pass from Bulldog quarterback Landon Varnes. The takeaway fired up the Bear offense as quarterback Silas Corder led a four-play drive where he completed three passes, the third of which was a 13-yard strike to Brian Barnes in the back of the end zone inching the Bears closer at 14-10.
 
The back-and-forth affair continued as the second quarter clocked ticked down. Both teams connected on field goals before the half as the Bears stayed within four at 17-13.
 
On just the third play of the opening drive of the second half, the Southwest ground game made its presence known as Jalen William cut through the Bulldog defense and sprinted to the end zone from 49 yards out giving the Bears their first lead of the game at 20-17.
 
The momentum, unfortunately, didn't last long as Gulf Coast orchestrated a drive which ended with another field goal, tying the game at 20 with 10:46 to go in the third quarter.
 
Southwest did answer with yet another Neyra field goal, this time from 44 yards out putting the Bears back on top at 23-20.
 
But the hosts not only retaliated but with a touchdown on an eight-yard pass. The extra point was missed keeping the Bears close at 26-23.
 
Down the stretch, the Bears unfortunately couldn't produce any more points as Gulf Coast got two additional touchdown passes to pull away in the end.
 
Williams had another strong outing with 100 yards and a score on 17 carries. Corder finished 12-of-22 for 127 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Isaiah Jones led the pass-catchers with four grabs for 45 yards. Yet again, BJ Mitchell led the Bears in tackles with 10, his second time producing double-digit stops this season.
 
The Bears will have a quick turnaround as they return home to host Co-Lin Thursday at 7 p.m.