The Mississippi Delta Community College Trojan football team finally got to play, albeit in the middle of a Friday afternoon. Despite a COVID infected football schedule that has canceled and postponed games and a Hurricane named Delta, the Trojans took on Northeast Community College to open the season. The Trojans fell 40-23 and are now 0-1 on the season. Northeast now stands 2-0 on the season.
Working to hopefully play through the pandemic and weather-related calamities has been tough but cancellations in football are not normal.
“This is something football doesn’t go through but baseball goes through it all the time. They get to their stadium and warm up and can get rained out. Or they stop play in the middle of the game because it gets rained out,” MDCC Head Coach Jeff Tatum said. “We normally play no matter what the elements are. The kids were disappointed (with the first game cancellation) but they regrouped and we moved on.”
The Trojans got out of the gate quickly en-route to a 17-0 lead just seven minutes in. Kicker Corblin McGinn opened the scoring with a 32-yard field goal at the 11:16 mark of the first quarter. Quarterback Jordan Gilleylen hit receiver Lorenzo Perez with an 18-yard TD catch less than two minutes later to push the lead to 10-0. The defense got in on the scoring as Su’Metris Stewart returned an interception 23 yards for a touchdown a minute after the last score for the 17-0 lead.
“We had a great start and the kids were focused and that shows us how they would have played in the first one,” Coach Tatum said. “But when you play with a bunch of freshmen, they don’t understand how long the games are going to last and concentration and play.”
The Tigers got on fast track and put up a score less than a minute later on a 69-yard TD pass as quarterback Kevin Hurley hit Shawn Dalton Weatherbee. That cut the lead to 17-7. Northeast’s defense then joined the scoring fray as they collected a safety on a bad snap. That was followed by a 32-yard Tiger field goal to make it 17-12. Just before halftime, Northeast took the lead as Hurley hit Andison Coby for a 43-yard touchdown pass with only four seconds left. They headed into the locker room with a 19-17 lead.
The Trojans made halftime adjustments and came out with their own big play as Gilleylen and Perez hooked up on a 69-yard TD pass. The PAT was blocked but the Trojans had the lead, 23-19 with 11:26 left in the third. The offense couldn’t put any more points on the board and Northeast clawed their way back. A five-yard TD run by Hurley retook the lead, 26-3. They then added to the lead with a 53-yard TD pass with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter and a 15-yard TD pass near the end of the game. That put the Tigers up 40-23 for the eventual win.
“We had a mental lapse for a little while and let them catch us and take the lead. Then we regrouped and took the lead back but couldn’t hold on to it,” Coach Tatum said.
The Trojans were effective on offense early and overall Gilleylen finished 25-for-38 passing for 305 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Perez had six catches for 112 yards and two TDs. LaDarius Moore had seven catches for 86 yards while Kelvin Smith ground out 76 yards rushing on 24 carries.
“Jordan Gilleylen did a great job of running our offense in game one,” he said. “Lorenzo Perez had a real good game catching the ball and did a real good job with his sophomore leadership.”
On defense, Stewart and Kevin Green each had an interception. Vernon Davis and Antonio Walker had six tackles each to help lead the defense.
The Trojans are working hard and waiting for their next game.
“We’re not only preparing for the next game but ourselves. Learn from our mistakes and fix things. You can treat it in two ways – it’s a blessing or it’s a curse. We’re treating it as a blessing that we have two weeks to get ready for Coahoma.”
This week’s game against Holmes was canceled due to the Bulldogs tangling with COVID-19 and are shut down for two weeks. When the Trojans head to Clarksdale it will be Coahoma’s homecoming and kickoff (hopefully) takes place on Saturday October 24th at 2:00 p.m.
