No. 15 Indians drop offensive shootout to No. 11 EMCC, 44-42
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – ICC sophomore quarterback Peyton Bender threw for 566 yards and three touchdowns on 39-of-59 passing in 44-42 loss to East Mississippi Community College.

The two Top 15 teams put on an offensive show in front of a standing room only crowd as they combined for 1,437 yards on 182 plays from scrimmage on Military Appreciation Night.

The #15 Indians (2-2, 0-2 MACJC North) got on the board first with a 10-yard run from Roger Thomas (West Point), but the #11 Lions (3-1, 2-0 MACJC North) answered with a pair of rushing touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead after the first quarter of play.

Dan Ellington (Olive Branch) hit Dorian Gaston (Ripley) for a 5-yard scoring toss to tie the game early in the second quarter before a 12-yard touchdown pass from De'Andre Johnson to Marion Lanier gave EMCC a 21-14 lead at the break.

The Indians tied to game on their opening drive of the second half when Thomas scored on a 3-yard run, but the Lions answered with a 6-yard touchdown pass on their opening possession of the third quarter to retake the lead, 28-21.

Bender (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) found Octavious Matthews (Stevenson, AL) for a 76-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 28-28 with 3:43 left in the third stanza. East Mississippi regained the lead, 35-28, on a 3-yard run by Jacquez Horsley, but this time the Indians answered 20 seconds later with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Bender to Gaston to make it 35-35 heading into the final frame.

Johnson scored on a 4-yard run to give the Lions a 41-35 lead, but a blocked extra point by Deon Knox (Grenada) opened the door for the Indians. Instead, the EMCC's defense held and converted on a 27-yard field goal attempt by Taylor Crabtree to take a 44-35 with 58.1 seconds left in the game.

ICC quickly marched down the field to score on a 30-yard pass from Bender to Gaston to make it a 44-42 contest with 24.1 seconds left, but East Mississippi recovered the Indians' onside kick and ran out the clock to win the game.

Offensively, the Indians piled up 729 yards (603 passing; 126 rushing) on 85 plays.

Gaston had a career night hauling in eight catches for 149 yards and three touchdowns while Isaiah Howard (Ripley) added 15 catches for 170 yards with Terry Williams (Southaven) making nine catches for 101 yards.

Matthews had 90 yards on nine carries and 76 yards and a touchdown on one catch while Thomas rushed for 29 yards and two touchdowns on four carries.

Defensively, ICC gave up a season-high 708 yards (389 passing; 319 rushing) on 97 plays to the Lions.

David Little (Saltillo) led the Indians with 17 tackles (16 solo; 1 assist) and a pass break-up. Quinshay Heard (Hamilton) and Stone Parrish (Senatobia) each had nine tackles on the night. Que Lott (Grenada) added an interception and six tackles while Donald Twilley (Batesville) had a fumble recovery to go along with four tackles.

ICC will step out of division play on Thursday to travel to Poplarville to take on Pearl River Community College after dropping out of this week's NJCAA poll. The Wildcats (1-3, 1-1 MACJC South) picked up a 42-20 win over Hinds Community College (1-3, 1-1 MACJC South) last week.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Davis Ford Pregame Show will start at 5:40 on WAFM (95.7) in Amory and LetsGoICCTV.com/RED.

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