Late Surge Lifts Indians Over East Central

DECATUR, Miss. – The Indians erased an early deficit and scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to knock off East Central, 23-14, Thursday night.

The win marked the first of the season for the Indians (1-2, 0-0 MACCC North), who leaned on steady special teams play from kicker Eli Burciaga (Corinth) and timely offensive strikes to complete the road comeback.

East Central (0-3, 0-0 MACCC South) struck first on a 22-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.

ICC answered in the second quarter, driving 70 yards to set up Burciaga's 22-yard field goal. After a defensive stop, the Indians pieced together another long march, and Burciaga connected from 28 yards to cut the deficit to 7-6.

East Central responded quickly with a 10-yard touchdown pass, pushing the margin back to 14-6 with 2:25 left in the half.

The turning point came just before the break. After a fumble recovery gave ICC the ball deep in Warrior territory, running back Mykel Allen (Batesville) powered in from one yard out with no time on the clock. Burciaga's extra point brought the Indians within 14-13 at halftime.

From there, it was all Indians.

Deljay Bailey (Petal) delivered the go-ahead score midway through the third, hitting Marcellus Jackson (Fulton, TN) on a 38-yard strike to put ICC up 20-14.

Burciaga added insurance in the fourth quarter, drilling a 36-yard field goal with 11:34 remaining to extend the lead to 23-14.

The Indians rushed 57 times for 204 yards, led by Allen's 95 yards on 27 carries. Bailey added 43 rushing yards to go with 184 passing yards on 16-of-23 attempts. Jackson hauled in seven catches for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Burciaga finished a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals (22, 28, 36 yards) and 2-for-2 on extra points, accounting for 11 points.

Defensively, ICC suffocated East Central's rushing attack, holding the Warriors to just 12 yards on 16 carries. Amir Scarver (Douglasville, GA) led the way with 8 tackles, two for loss and a sack. Nick Sherman (Tuscaloosa, AL) had 7 stops and an interception returned for 6 yards, and Orel Gray (Jacksonville, FL) had 3 tackles with a sack, tackle for loss, forced fumble, fumble recovery and an interception.

The Indians return home next week to open conference play against perennial power East Mississippi Community College (2-1, 1-0 MACCC North) on Thursday, September 18. The game will also be All-American Heroes Night at Eaton Field.

The Guaranty Bank kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., with the Metro Ford Pregame Show beginning at 6:30 p.m. on SuperTalk Tupelo 101.9 FM and streaming at LetsGoICCTV.com/red.