Two teams in search of a first season victory will tangle Thursday, Sept. 16 when East Central Community College’s Warriors and the Itawamba Community College Indians meet in a non-division battle at 6:30 p.m. at Bailey Stadium on the Decatur campus.
East Central began the 2010 campaign with a 34-6 loss to visiting Northeast Mississippi Community College and fell 41-26 to Northwest Mississippi Community College last week in Senatobia.
Itawamba was drubbed 52-31 by visiting Hinds Community College in the season opener and dropped a 34-14 decision last week to Pearl River Community College in Poplarville.
In addition to their 0-2 starts, both squads are also led by first-year coaches, although Brian Anderson served as “interim” head mentor of the Warriors last year.
Jon Williams is the new leader of the ICC Indians, after serving the previous three years as the squad’s offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. Williams is a 15-year coaching veteran and served as an assistant for former ECCC head coach Terry Underwood.
After two early setbacks, Coach Anderson said the Warriors remain focused on getting into the win column, although preparations for the Itawamba game have been hampered due to injuries on the offensive side of the ball.
“We have had a tremendous week defensively,” said Anderson, “but offensively we’re battling the injury bug up front and concentrating on ball security.”
Two turnovers early in the third period contributed to the Warriors’ inability to maintain a 20-19 advantage over Northwest at halftime. The Rangers scored following both miscues.
Despite the loss, Anderson was proud of his young team’s effort.
“We played hard and were obviously a much better team than we were against Northeast in the season opener,” said Anderson. “Northwest has a very rich tradition of winning and our guys were not intimidated at all. We had opportunities to score points but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We have a lot of talent on this team and I know we will continue to improve each week.”
After managing just six points in the season opener, the EC offense got untracked against Northwest with freshmen Blake Matherne of Boothville, La., and Dustin Land of Milton, Fla., sharing quarterback duties. Matherne completed 14 of 23 passes for 227 yards and one score. Land was six of 12 for 149 yards and a touchdown. Radarious Owens of Quitman was the top receiver with six catches for 130 yards and a touchdown, a nine-yard strike from Matherne. Owens’ longest reception covered 65 yards, also from Matherne.
EC’s passing offense is now ranked third in the state, behind East Mississippi and Hinds. The Warrior aerial attack is averaging 283 yards per contest. East Mississippi has the top passing attack with a 375-yard average followed by Hinds at 301 yards per contest.
Overall, the EC offense is fourth, with a 426-yard average.
Freshman linebacker Chris Ficklin of Forest led the Warrior defense against Northwest with 13 tackles and four assists, four of which resulted in minus yardage. He was also credited with one-and-a-half quarterback sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery and helped block a Ranger PAT. Ficklin, a product of Scott Central High School, leads the state in tackles with 21 solo stops and eight assists.
Overall, the EC defense is ranked ninth, allowing 363.5 yards per contest.
East Central features one of the top kickoff return specialists in sophomore Caleb Porzell. Porzell, a transfer from the University of Maryland, is ranked fifth with four returns for 109 yards, a 27.3-yard average. His longest return is 45 yards. He is a product of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Silver Springs, MD.