East Central sneaks out of Fulton with a win over the Indians

ICC saw its first win of the season slip away in the final minutes of their contest against East Central when the Warriors scored 24-unanswered points to come away with a 24-17 come-from-behind victory over the Indians on Thursday.

"We beat ourselves," ICC head football coach Jon Williams said after the game. "Our defense played a heck of a game, but give East Central credit because they took advantage of our mistakes on offense to be able to get the win."

Sophomore running back DeShawn McGaughy put the Indians up 14-0 in the second quarter on scoring runs of 52 and 6 yards before sophomore kicker Will Goodwin tacked on a 32-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the quarter to give ICC a 17-0 lead at the break.

Leading 17-3 heading into the final frame, the Indians saw East Central rally to tie the game after a halfback pass from Dennis Thames to Corey Collier on a 14-yard scoring toss and an 80-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Manley to Brock Hall with 2:27 left in the contest.

The Indians moved the ball to the East Central 33-yard line only to see the Warriors pick off a pass and return it 66 yards to set up the go-ahead score on a 1-yard dive by Manley that sent the East Central sidelines into celebration mode with 30 seconds left in the contest.

After dousing their head coach with water, the Warriors saw freshman Demarius Howard return the ensuing kickoff 44 yards to put the premature celebration on hold. Sophomore quarterback Darren Daniel found sophomore Erik Buchanan for what appeared to be the game-tying touchdown pass with 3 seconds left in the game, but instead the pass bounced off the chest of the receiver and into the hands of a Warrior defender allowing East Central to escape Fulton with a come-from-behind 24-17 victory.

"We did a poor job of moving the ball in the second half," Williams said of his offense. "We just left the defense out there way too long and we didn't put the game away when we had our chances to put points on the board."

McGaughy finished the game with 75 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 13 carries while Daniel went 10-of-30 for 120 yards and two interceptions with Buchanan leading the way with 36 yards on three catches while Terrell Pinson added 34 yards on three catches.

Defensively, sophomore Ashton Ballard had a career night picking off three East Central passes and breaking up five more to spearhead an ICC defense that held East Central to 30 yards rushing and 133 yard passing.

ICC fell to 0-3 on the season while East Central improved to 1-2.

The Indians will look to rebound this Thursday night as they open MACJC North Division play on the road against the nationally ranked and undefeated East Mississippi Lions.