No. 11 ICC handles Hinds, 45-20
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

RAYMOND, MS – The No. 11 ICC football team rattled off 31-unanswered points in the second half to move to 2-0 on the season after a 45-20 win at Hinds Community College on Thursday.

Dan Ellington (Olive Branch) and Peyton Bender (Fort Lauderdale, FL) combined to pass for 365 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while the Indians (2-0) used six different players to rush for 166 yards and four touchdowns in the convincing victory.

The Eagles (0-2) struck first when Micah Zanders found Stephen Guidry for a 63-yard touchdown pass, but a missed extra point made it 6-0 at the 9:42 mark of the first quarter. Three minutes later, ICC answered with a 5-yard scoring run by Ellington and a successful PAT from Zach Ellis (Tupelo) to take a 7-6 advantage.

Auburn commit Octavious Matthews (Stevenson, AL) scored a 6-yard run to give the Indians a 14-6 lead after another successful kick from Ellis with 12:27 left until halftime. Hinds made it a 14-13 game on a 2-yard touchdown run by DeMichael Harris and the PAT by Mason Sollie with 7:48 left in the quarter.  Ellington scored one a 1-yard jolt into the end zone to give the Indians a 21-13 lead at the break.

Ellington and the Indians dominated the third quarter to pull away from the Eagles quickly in the second half.

Ellington found Chris Long (Nettleton) on a 6-yard scoring toss before hitting Terry Williams (Southaven) on an 81-yard touchdown pass to give the Indians a 35-13 advantage with 5:12 left in the quarter. Ellington scored his third touchdown of the quarter on an 8-yard run with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

ICC let the clock run out on the third quarter before starting the final stanza with a 17-yard field goal from Ellis on a fourth-and-one situation to take a 45-13 lead.

Ellis, who played 70 minutes in the soccer team's 3-1 victory in Oxford, Georgia the night before, finished the night 6-of-6 on extra point attempts to go along with a success field goal attempt.

Ra'Meik Wallace made a great pass between a pair of Indian defenders for a 2-yard scoring strike to Desmond McInnis with 5:34 left in the game.

The Indians kept the ball between tackles to melt the clock to pick up the impressive 45-20 road victory.

Offensively, ICC totaled 531 yards on 73 plays.

Ellington finished the night with five total touchdowns after going for 185 yards and two scores on 9-of-12 passing and rushing for 35 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries. Bender passed for 180 yards with one interception on 14-of-22 passing.

Williams had six catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Long added three catches for 39 yards and another touchdown. Matthews had seven carries for 30 yards and a touchdown while Kadarius Forside (West Point) added 13 carries for 75 yards.

Defensively, the Indians allowed 306 yards of total offense (93 rushing; 216 passing).

Devan Hollins (Southaven) led the way with six tackles (4 solo; 2 assists). Que Lott (Grenada) added five solo tackles with a tackle for a loss of two yards and a pass break-up while Jarvis Hayes (Slocomb, AL) totaled four tackles with two sacks for a loss of 19 yards.

23 different players had at least one tackle in the contest. The Indians had 10 tackles for loss with five sacks while creating three turnovers. Donald Twilley (Batesville) scooped up a fumble and returned it 32 yards while Kamdon Edwards (Batesville) and Arkansas State Kenney Wooten (Meridian) each had a fumble recovery on the night.

The Indians will hit the road for the second-straight week as they travel to Senatobia to take on the defending state and national champion Northwest Mississippi Community College on Thursday, September 15.

The No. 6 Rangers (2-0) defeated Hinds 40-17 in Week 1 and knocked off Pearl River Community College (0-2) 31-14 last Thursday in Senatobia.

ICC and Northwest will partner to help support Child Cancer Awareness Month with a balloon release during halftime of the game. Fans and families who have been affected by childhood cancer that would like to participate are invited to join the cheerleaders on the field.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with the Davis Ford Pregame show starting at 6:10 on FM 95 Sports and LetsGoICCTV.com/RED.

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