FULTON, Miss. – The highly-anticipated game between No. 14 Itawamba Community College and No. 6 Holmes Community College lived up to the all the hype, but a questionable call in the final seconds of the game cast an unfortunate shadow on the 27-24 Bulldog victory.
The Indians (5-2, 3-1 MACCC North) were flagged for a questionable pass interference call that set the Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 MACCC North) up for a 32-yard game-winning field goal with 1.8 seconds left in the game.
Despite the last-second shenanigans, the Bulldogs outscored the Indians 20-7 in the second half to rally for the victory.
The Indians took a 17-7 lead into the break on touchdown passes from Ty Davis (Fulton) to Ethan Minor (Southaven) and Jaylen Foster (Greenwood, SC) along with a 27-yard field by Eli Burciaga (Corinth).
Davis went 18-of-29 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
The Bulldogs made it a 17-14 contest on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 9:15 left in the third quarter. The Indians answered with a 4-yard run from Jaylen Sulton (Southaven) to go up 24-14 with 1:47 left in the quarter.
After the Bulldogs opened the fourth quarter with a field goal, the turning point of the game came at the 9:54 mark when a shanked punt hit an Indian player in the back and Holmes recovered the ball at the Indians' 34-yard line. The Bulldogs cashed in with a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game, 24-24, with 6:33 left to play.
Offensively, the Indians had 347 yards (188 passing; 159 rushing). Chris Reed (Orlando, FL) had 10 catches for 109 yards. Mykel Allen (Batesville) rushed for 99 yards on 14 carries.
Defensively, ICC forced three fumbles and recovered two, both by Orel Gray (Jacksonville, FL), who finished the night with 9 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for a loss.
The Indians will have to rinse the bitter taste out of their mouths and get ready to travel to Booneville to take on rivals Northeast (3-4, 2-3 MACCC North) Thursday. The Tigers picked up a 21-13 win at Coahoma (0-7, 05 MACCC North) Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the pregame will start at 6 p.m. on SuperTalk 101.9 FM and LetsGoICCTV.com/red.
