Indians upset No. 4 Gulf Coast, 23-12
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – A balance offensive mixed with a relentless defensive attack helped ICC upset No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, 23-12, in front of a packed house at Eaton Field on Thursday.

VIDEO: Autry, Sailo, Ellington talk about the win over Gulf Coast

Freshman quarterback Dan Ellington (Olive Branch) scored on a two-yard run and to give the Indians (1-0) a 7-0 lead on their opening drive of the contest.

After forcing a quick three-and-out, a four-yard touchdown run by Kadarius Forside (West Point) and another Ellis kick extended the lead to 14-0 at the 10:35 mark of the first quarter.

Forside rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

ICC capped off an impressive first quarter with a 31-yard field goal by Zach Ellis (Tupelo) to take a 17-0 lead.

Gulf Coast (0-1) rallied with 10 points in the second quarter on a 40-yard field goal by Joshua Rowland (Madison) and a one-yard touchdown pass from Kalen Whitlow (Dothan, AL) to Lester Wells (Natchez) to cut the Indians' lead to 17-10 at the break.

After an impressive Gulf Coast punt pinned the Indians inside the one-yard line, the Bulldogs picked up a safety to make the score 17-12 after three quarters of play.

Ellington put the game on ice when he picked up a snap off the ground and hit sophomore Dontavis Bruce (Olive Branch) for a 29-yard scoring strike to give the Indians a 23-12 lead with 8:59 left to play after a missed PAT.

The Indians' defense stood strong on the Bulldogs' final possession of the night allowing the offense to run out the clock on the victory.

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Offensively, the Indians totaled 567 yards (286 passing; 281 rushing) on 75 plays from scrimmage.

Ellington finished the night with 156 yards and one touchdown on 14-of-19 passing while rushing for 109 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries while sophomore Peyton Bender (Fort Lauderdale, FL) added 130 yards on 11-of-19 passing.

Terry Williams (Southaven) had 65 yards on eight catches and Dorian Gaston (Ripley) added three catches for 40 yards to along with Bruce's five catches for 69 yards.

Octavious Matthews (Stevenson, AL) finished the night with five carries for 26 yards and two catches for 43 yards with Tavonta Hadley (Tupelo) adding nine carries for 28 yards and one catch for 23 yards.

Defensively, ICC held MGCCC to 169 yards of total offense (75 rushing; 94 passing).

Kemon Hall (Calhoun City) led the Indians with eight tackles and two pass break-ups. Quinshay Heard (Hamilton) and Daniel Freppon (Fulton) each added five tackles. Travis Sailo (Tuscaloosa, AL) had a pair of sacks while Tyler Logan (West Point) had a fumble recovery.

The victory snapped the Indians' nine-game losing streak to the Bulldogs. Gulf Coast most recently defeated ICC in the last game of the 2015 season before eliminating the Indians from the playoffs the following week. The Indians' pervious victory over the Bulldogs came in the form of a 23-20 victory in 2000.

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ICC will travel to take on Hinds Community College on Thursday, September 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Raymond. The Eagles (0-1) entered the season ranked No. 19 before suffering a 40-17 season-opening loss to No. 10 Northwest Mississippi Community College (1-0).

The game will be available on LetsGoICCTV.com/RED and FM 95 Sports (Amory) starting at 6:40 p.m. with the Davis Ford Pregame Show.

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