Trojans Drop Season Opener to Southwest – Early Mistakes Hurt

By Mark H. Stowers

Sometimes you hunt the bear. Sometimes the bear hunts you. The Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans were more than ready for their season opener but early mistakes put them behind. With a valiant effort, the Trojans' season opener was a loss to Southwest, 51-6.

The first drive went backwards and a bad relay between the long snapper and punter gave the Bears their first possession at the Trojans' eight-yard-line and two rushing plays later had six points and a PAT on the board for a 7-0 lead.

The Trojan defense kept giving the offense chances creating three fumbles, recovering each during the game. The offense, with its three-headed quarterback scheme, picked up big chunks of yardage during the game but penalties negated several big plays and yanked momentum away from the Trojans. 

Freshman quarterback Troy Griffin from Indianola's Gentry High School showed up and showed off his passing and rushing skills with several big plays that eventually led to the Trojans' first touchdown. His 31-yard TD pass thrown from a nearly impossible sidearm angle was snagged by sophomore Sirr Trotter. MDCC Head Coach Tavares Johnson Sr. now has a "horse" to ride.

"We found a way to establish something that resembles an offense. The young quarterback (Griffin) was going to do a good job and I didn't hesitate to make the change when it was time," he said. "He's been playing all spring and all fall. I don't look at grades. I look at ability. We found our quarterback for the future. We are going to build around him and get this thing turned around. What makes him dynamic is that he wants to be the student of the game. He's a sponge."

Griffin was 15-for-22 passing for 183 yards and one touchdown. Starter Thalamus Marshall was 3-for-7 for 25 yards. Trotter led receivers with four catches for 73 yards and one touchdown.

The mistakes were costly, especially to the scoreboard for the Trojans.

"We shot ourselves in the foot but we did have some bright spots to take away from the game," Coach Johnson said. "We counted today, we left about 24 points on the field. We had way too many dropped balls. Balls hitting people in the hands. If this (passing attack) is going to be our identity, we've got to catch the ball."

The defense was led by both freshman Jonathan Nicholson who had eight total tackles while sophomore Malik Sims had six.

"We had players out there, two freshmen corners and folks who hadn't played football in a long time. But our strong suit was our defensive line. We had the most coming back there," Coach Johnson said. "We forced three fumbles. We just have to continue to chop wood."

Special teams had problems and Coach Johnson has plans to shore up the kicking and punting games.

"We worked with the long snapper all summer. I always say when the bullets are flying, it's different. I did my best to prepare the guy," he said.

Overall, the Trojans had 209 yards of total offense on 59 plays. They gave up 404 yards to Southwest.

This Thursday, September 14^th, the Trojans hit the road to take on Copiah-Lincoln Community College who kicked off their season with a 23-20 win over perennial JUCO power, #8 nationally ranked East Mississippi. Coach Johnson knows the Wolves are always a tough team with great coaching.

"They are a big physical team and are coming off a big win over East Mississippi," Coach Johnson said. "Anytime you face a team that Glenn Davis coaches, it's going to be a tough game. I admire Glenn and he's my all-time favorite JUCO coach. He does a great job with those kids. When you can stay at one place for as long as he has it says something about his work ethic and his character."

Kickoff between the Trojans and the Wolves is set for 6:30 p.m., at H.L. Stone Stadium in Wesson.

In other MACCC news, the NJCAA National Rankings this week had three MACCC teams ranked and two more receiving votes:

• The previously ranked #3 Northwest CC Rangers fell to #11 as they lost their opener to Mississippi Gulf Coast, 49-14, who moved into the rankings for the first time this season at #8.
• The previously ranked #6 Jones CC Bobcats moved up to #4 after their 27-13 win over Itawamba Community College. 
• The previously ranked #8 East Mississippi fell to #13 after losing to Copiah-Lincoln, 23-20.
• Receiving votes: Copiah-Lincoln and Northeast both received votes