Winston County native Mark Hudspeth has taken Clarksville, Tenn. by storm.
In his first year as head coach of the Austin Peay University, Hudspeth has led the Governors to a 7-3 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference, good enough for a tie for first place with Southeast Missouri.
The Governors, who own a 28-24 win over SEMO, have two regular season games left, both OVC contests. Austin Peay visits Murray State Saturday at noon and hosts Eastern Illinois on Nov. 23. The Govs are looking to secure a spot int eh NCAA FCS playoffs that begin on Nov. 30.
— Austin Bishop
GULF COAST WINS TITLE
The No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs beat back a rugged No. 4 Northwest Mississippi Community College team 23-19 for the school's 16th MACJC state football championship, clinching a spot in the NJCAA championship game.
Gulf Coast (11-0) will play an opponent yet to be determined on Dec. 5. It will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. No. 2 Lackawanna (9-0) plays No. 9 Georgia Military on Sunday in Scranton, Pa. If the Falcons win, they're expected to be the opponent.
The Bulldogs rallied from three separate deficits to win, with Austin Bolton breaking a slew of tackles on a 30-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
— School Reports
VETERANS’ DAY DEFENSE
Ole Miss and Southern Mississippi in honor of Veterans Day played inspired defense to lead their teams to wins. The Rebels defense held New Mexico State to 194 yards of offense in 41-3 victory while Southern Mississippi held UAB to only 173 yards of total offense in a 30-7.
Southern Mississippi (6-3, 4-1) avenged last season’s bitter overtime loss to UAB with a beat down of the Blazers. The 600th win in school history secured USM's bowl eligibility for the fifth straight year. Next up is an evening road trip to UTSA.
Ole Miss (4-6, 2-4) ended a three-game losing streak as they rushed for 447 yards - their most since 1962 - against the winless Aggies. This Saturday at 6 p.m. Ole Miss will host longtime rival LSU.
— Dale McKee
WARRIORS FALL TO DELGADO
The East Central Community College Warriors got a combined 55 points from Nick Preyer and JaQuarius Smith but it wasn’t enough as the home-standing Delgado Dolphins picked up an 88-84 win at the Michael Williamson Center in New Orleans, La., on Monday.
Preyer, a sophomore guard from Mobile, Ala., LeFlore scored 29 points to lead the Warriors, while Smith, a sophomore forward from Noxubee County, added 26 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Freshman guard Kareem Thompson (Florence) was the only other East Central player in double figures with 19. Thompson and Smith each had four assists, while Thompson had five steals.
East Central is now 1-1 on the season. The Warriors will travel to Scooba on Thursday, Nov. 14, to face East Mississippi at 7:30 p.m. and then to Goodman on Monday, Nov. 18, to play Holmes at 7:30 p.m.
— School Reports
STATE-BAMA AT 11
The Bulldogs of Mississippi State and the visiting Crimson Tide of Alabama have the 11 a.m. kickoff spot on ESPN this Saturday. Also playing at 11 a.m. on CBS will b No. 10-ranked Florida and Missouri.
Ole Miss is set to host rival LSU, fresh off an impressive win over Alabama, at 6 p.m. on Saturday n ESPN. The focus game of the day will be on CBS at 2:30 p.m. when Auburn plays host to Georgia.
Other televised games have Florida at Missouri on CBS at 11 a.m., Vanderbilt hosting Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network and Texas A&M, entertaining South Carolin at 6:30 p.m., also on the SEC Network.
— Austin Bishop
ECCC SEASON TICKETS AVAILABLE
General admission and Clarksville season tickets to all 2019-20 East Central Community College men’s and women’s regular season home basketball games are now on sale.
The season tickets are good for the 10 home dates beginning with the Dec. 2 games against the Holmes Community College Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs in Brackeen-Wood Gym on the campus in Decatur. General admission season tickets are $35, while chairback season tickets are $45.
The tickets may be purchased online at www.eccc.edu/estore, at the main Athletic Department Office in Brackeen-Wood Gym, or at the ticket table at a home contest. A complete season schedule can be found at www.ecccathletics.com.
— School Reports
TIDE ROLLING IN
Mississippi State (4-5, 2-4) will take on Alabama this Saturday morning. The Bulldogs had the week off after crushing Arkansas two weeks ago. It could be that they are catching the Tide at a good time.
State needs to win two of its final three games to have a legitimate chance at a bowl game. The Bulldogs host Alabama Saturday, Abiline Christian on Nov. 23 and then Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl on Nov. 28.
— Dale McKee
ALCORN’S MUHAMMAD HONORED
For the second time this season, senior Solomon Muhammad from the Alcorn State University football program has been named the SWAC Defensive Player of the Week. Muhammad led the Braves on Saturday in what turned out to be a defensive battle. He wrapped up a game-high 14 tackles, 2.0 tackles for a loss, a sack and a broke up pass against Grambling State.
Of his 14 tackles, 12 were solo. He ranks top-10 in the nation with 5.8 solo tackles per game. Muhammad previously won SWAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 23. As a team, Alcorn has won 10 SWAC weekly awards as Muhammad has won twice, junior Felix Harper three times, senior Corey McCullough three times, junior Malik Holbert once and freshman Niko Duffey once.
Muhammad and the Braves return home Saturday when they host Alabama A&M at 2 p.m. at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
— School Reports
