Loftis, Lofton lead No. 16 ICC past East Central 40-7
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – Griff Loftis threw for 343 yards and four touchdowns in No. 16 Itawamba Community College's dominating 40-7 victory over East Central Community College in the season opener for both teams.

Loftis (Mooreville) completed 28 of 47 passes while 2013 Bennie Abram LEGACY award recipient Tobias Lofton (Forest) rushed 113 yards as the Indians' racked up 585 yards of total offense (343 passing; 242 rushing) on Military Appreciation Night.

Emmitt Dendy (Houston) put the Indians (1-0; 0-0 MACJC North) on the board with a 21-yard field goal before Shante Rogers (Itawamba AHS) capped off a 69-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown catch in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

ICC took went ahead 17-0 in the early moments of the second quarter after Ted Esom (Bruce) recovered a Warriors' fumble to set up a 16-yard scoring toss to JaNardreon Jones (Noxubee County) before a second 21-yard field goal by Dendy put the Indians up 20-0 with 8:12 left in the second quarter.

Jones finished the night with 76 yards on 6 catches.

The Indians closed the first half with an impressive 92-yard drive that ended with Loftis finiding Archie Dennard (Simmons) for an 8-yard TD pass to take a 27-0 advantage at the break.

East Central (0-1; 0-0 MACJC South) quickly grabbed momentum in the second half when Jacori Taylor (Blakely, GA) found Hakeem Parker (New Orleans, LA) for a 60-yard touchdown.

The Indians answered with a 30-yard scoring strike to Jacquez McMillian (Southaven) and a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Chris Ingram (Southaven).

McMillian had 87 yards on 4 catches while Ingram added 71 yards rushing.

The Indians' defense held the Warriors to 104 yard of total offense (72 passing; 34 rushing) with 60 yards coming on East Central's lone score of the night.

CJ Jackson (Water Valley) led the team with six tackles with a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss while six other Indians added five tackles on the night.

ICC will hit the road to Summit to take on Southwest Mississippi Community College (1-0; 0-0 MACJC South) in the Bears' home opener. The Bears rallied to defeat Northwest Mississippi Community College (0-1; 0-0 MACJC North) 19-14 in Senatobia.

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