No. 18 Indians defeat MS Delta, 49-7, on Homecoming
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – Peyton Bender threw for four touchdowns and eclipsed the 2,000-yard passing mark in No. 18 Itawamba Community College's 49-7 Homecoming victory over Mississippi Delta Community College on Saturday.

On the Indians' (5-3, 2-3 MACJC North) opening drive of the game, Bender (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) found Cedric Bradford (Tuscaloosa, AL) for a 5-yard scoring strike to take a 7-0 lead, but the rest of the quarter was marred by untimely penalties to negate two scoring opportunities.

In the second quarter, Bender found Terry Williams (Southaven) for a 23-yard touchdown and Dorian Gaston (Ripley) for a 27-yard scoring toss to take a 21-0 lead into the break.

Bender added a 13-yard touchdown toss to Bradford before Dan Ellington (Olive Branch) added a 5-yard scoring pass to Gaston to give the Indians a 35-0 lead after three quarters of play.

Gaston had 5 catches for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Octavious Matthews (Stevenson, AL) scored on a 24-yard touchdown run and Montario Montgomery (Starkville) scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 5-yard run late in the fourth quarter to give the Indians the 49-7 victory.

Mississippi Delta (1-7, 0-5 MACJC North) scored on a 63-yard touchdown pass to Javion Jones from Guy Myers midway through the final frame.

Offensively, the Indians piled up 738 yards of total offense (461 passing; 277 rushing).

Bender completed 33-of-47 passing for 354 yards and four touchdowns. The Washington State transfer has completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,267 yards on the season making him the second-straight ICC quarterback to eclipse the 2,000-yard passing mark. Last season, Southern Miss signee, Kwadra Griggs (Greenville) threw for 2,138 yards in 10 games.

Bradford hauled in 6 catches for 85 yards and two scores while Williams had 83 yards and a touchdown on 5 catches. Matthews rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries while Tavonta Hadley (Tupelo) added 100 yards on 13 carries.

Defensively, ICC held the Trojans to 146 yards of total offense (113 passing; 33 rushing).

Kemon Hall (Calhoun City) and Daylon Fox (Southaven) led the Indians with 7 tackles each. ICC totaled 7 sacks on the afternoon and 12 tackles for loss. Donald Twilley (Batesville) added an interception to the Indians' defensive efforts.

ICC will travel to Goodman to take on Holmes Community College (5-3, 3-2 MACJC North) to close out the regular season on Saturday. The Bulldogs defeated No. 7 Northeast Mississippi Community College (6-2, 3-2 MACJC North) last week.

Kickoff is slated for 3:00 p.m. The Davis Ford Pregame Show will begin at 2:40 for WAFM (95.7 FM Amory) and LetsGoICCTV.com/Red.

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