Defense carries No. 12 Indians past Mississippi Delta 23-13

Defense carries No. 12 ICC past Mississippi Delta 23-13
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – The No. 12 ICC football team survived five turnovers, three on special teams, to defeat Mississippi Delta Community College 23-13 in the Indians' MACJC North Division opener on Thursday.

"Hopefully when we look back over the season we will be able to look up at this game as a turning point for the positive," said ICC head football coach Jon Williams. "We weren't focused and did not play with much discipline and that's something we take pride in being a big part of our football program, but thanks to a great effort by the defense we were able to find a way to win."

The Indians' (3-0; 1-0 MACJC North) defense set up the first score of the night when Devan Gilleylen (Shannon) picked off a Mississippi Delta (0-3; 0-1 MACJC North) pass and returned it 17 yards to the 18-yard line where Chris Ingram (Southaven) powered his way into the end zone on the next play to put ICC up 7-0 in the final minutes of the first quarter.

"That was a big play in the game," said Williams. "Neither team had established themselves and we challenged someone to make a play and Devan stepped up in a big way to help us grab some momentum."

Gilleylen finished the game with a career-high 6 tackles (5 solo; 1 assist) with a sack for a loss of two yards, a pair of tackles for a loss of eight yards, and a pass break up to go along with his first-ever collegiate interception.

ICC went up 17-0 after a 3-yard touchdown run by Ingram, his seventh of the season, in the second quarter and a 21-yard field goal by Emmitt Dendy (Houston) in the early stages of the fourth.

Ingram finished the game with 48 yards on carries while Tobias Lofton (Forest) added a game-high 65 yards on 18 carries for the Indians.

MS Delta broke into the scoring column when Raheem Sanders hauled in a deflected pass for an 18-yard scoring toss from Jaylon Daniles.

The Indians answered with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Goodman (Charlotte, NC) to AJ Hunt (Saltillo) to take a 23-6 lead before the Trojans added a 49-yard touchdown pass to Passario Collins with 14 second left in the final frame.

Goodman threw for 292 yards on 28 of 43 passing while Hunt hauled in 2 receptions for 26 yards while Jacquez McMillian (Southaven) had a career-high 114 yards on 8 catches to lead all receivers.

"You can't really hang our struggles on the offense because we turned the ball over three times on special teams," Williams commented. "We were able to move the ball when he had it on offense, but that's three possessions and opportunities to score taken away because a lack of focus and discipline, which will be something we really focus on in practice after this game."

ICC totaled 416 offensive yards (124 rushing; 292 passing) while holding the Trojans to 248 total yards (84 rushing; 164 passing) on offense.

"You can't ask for anything more out of a defense than we got out of our guys," said Williams. "When you turn the ball over five times you aren't supposed to win, but the defense stepped up and made play after play for us to be able to find a way to win the game."

Darius White (Grenada) recorded 10 tackles (6 solo; 4 assists) with a 9-yard interception return, 2 pass break ups, and a half tackle for a loss of one-yard while CJ Jackson (Water Valley) and Ted Esom (Bruce) each added 9 tackles.

The Indians will stay in MACJC North Division play as they travel to Goodman to take on the Holmes Community College Bulldogs (0-3; 0-1 MACJC North) on Thursday.

"Their 0-3 record is very deceiving," Williams commented. "They've played the No. 1 and No. 19 teams in the nation to open the season and dropped a three-point game last week. We are going to be facing a really good football team hungry for a win and hopefully we will be able to go on the road and match their intensity."

The Bulldogs dropped their season opener 54-14 to No. 19 Jones County Junior College (3-0; 1-0 MACJC South) and fell 36-7 to top-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (3-0; 1-0 MACJC South) before dropping their MACJC North Division opener 17-14 to Northeast Mississippi Community College (1-2; 1-0 MACJC North).

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