Indians take care of turnover-prone Coahoma, 47-14

Indians takes care of turnover-prone Coahoma, 47-14
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

CLARKSDALE, MS – ICC turned five Coahoma Community College turnovers into 31 points and cruised to a 47-14 victory over the Tigers to keep their playoff hopes alive on Saturday.

"We played a total game," said Coach Sean Cannon. "Anytime you can turn turnovers into points it's a good thing. You have got to capitalize on turnovers and we did that today."

ICC (2-4, 2-1 MACJC North) opened up the contest by scoring 13 points in 19 seconds to take a 30-7 lead over Coahoma (0-6, 0-3 MACJC North).

Richard McQuarley (Meridian) leaped over the pile and into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. Coahoma fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Indians cashed in on the first play from scrimmage when D'Andre Belton (Ridgeway, SC) found Quin Tiggs (Tupelo) on a 24-yard scoring toss.

"We had so many guys step up and have a great game today," commented Cannon. "But our big guys up front really did a good job fighting and opening up holes for the running backs and giving us time to throw the football."

Cartin McBride (Calhoun City) blocked a punt and returned it 18 yards and Tyler Jackson (Oxford) added a 29-yard field goal as time expired to give the Indians (2-4, 2-1 MACJC North) a 17-7 halftime lead.

Kwadra Griggs (Greenwood) hit Levarious Varnado (Calhoun City) on a 70-yard touchdown pass for ICC's first score of the afternoon.

All three Indians QBs threw touchdown passes in the victory when Jesse Hosket (French Camp) connected with Grant Kimberlin (Olive Branch) on a 10-yard pass before Anfernee Brand (Houston) scored on a 24-yard run and Jackson added an 18-yard field goal to round out the scoring.

"We were trying to find us a spark somewhere," Cannon said about the offense. "I think that it picked up the play of our guys and it showed with some big plays coming from the offensive side of the ball."

The Indians racked up 473 yards of total offense with Griggs passing for 158 yards with Varnado hauling in two catches for 82 yards while Brand rushed for 72 yards with McQuarley added 122 all-purpose yards.

Myles Harges (Grenada) led the Indians with 12 tackles (8 solo; 4 assists) with Brujoun Bonner (St. Petersburg, FL) recovering two fumbles with Benny McCall (Horn Lake) and Varnado also recovering a fumble.

Rivals clash Thursday at Eaton Field

The Indians will have a quick turnaround as they host rival Northeast (2-4, 2-2 MACJC North) Thursday, October 9 with the First American National Bank Opening Kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Eaton Field.

"It's another short week to get ready for a really good football team and add on top of that it's a big rivalry game," said Cannon. "Hopefully we can have another great week of practice like we did this past week and come focused on taking care of business Thursday night."

The Tigers come to Fulton after dropping a 14-7 decision at Mississippi Delta (3-2, 2-1 MACJC North) last week. Both teams are faced with a must-win situation in order to keep their postseason hopes alive.

"Northeast is fighting and clawing for a playoff spot just like we are," said Cannon. "So there is going to be a lot more than just pride and bragging rights on the line this year."

Thursday's game can be heard on WAFM 95.7 FM (Amory) and can be seen live on LetsGoICC.com starting at 6:40 p.m. with the Davis Ford Pregame Show.

For more information on ICC football, follow ICC Athletics on Twitter (@LetsGoICC).