GOODMAN — For the first time in 22 years, the Holmes Community College Bulldogs are headed to the MACCC football playoffs. Holmes, the North No. 2 seed, will travel to Decatur on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest with the South No. 1 seed East Central in the MACCC semifinals.
Holmes, who last played in the playoffs in 2002 and captured the state championship, finished the regular season with a 7-2 record and a 4-2 record in the North while East Central finished the regular season with a 7-2 record and a 5-1 record in the South. The Bulldogs started the season 7-0 before dropping the last two games of the season to Northwest and East Mississippi. East Central started off 2-2 before winning their last five games of the season to claim the South Division.
Holmes is No. 12 in the latest NJCAA poll while East Central is No. 8. Northwest and Gulf Coast are the other two teams in the semifinals and play Saturday in Senatobia. Northwest is the North No. 1 and Gulf Coast is the South No. 2. Northwest is ranked No. 4 in the latest NJCAA poll while Gulf Coast is No. 5.
As for common opponents this season, Holmes and East Central played Northeast, Northwest, Jones, Copiah-Lincoln and Southwest. Each team defeated their common opponents except for Northwest. Holmes fell to Northwest, 37-35, in Senatobia while East Central fell to Northwest, 22-17, in Decatur.
Offensively, the Bulldogs are averaging 369.2 yards per game (280 passing and 88.9 rushing) while East Central is averaging 359.4 yards per game (119.4 rushing and 240 yards passing). Defensively, the Bulldogs are giving up 25.4 points per game and 364.7 yards per game while East Central is giving up 15 points per game and 274.4 yards per game.
Chase Richardson (Winona) has appeared in all nine games at quarterback for the Bulldogs. He is 147-of-237 for 1,541 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions while John Ford has appeared in seven games. He is 68-of-128 for 826 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. The Bulldogs have 2,523 passing yards on the season and 800 yards on the ground.
The leading rusher is Richardson with 82 carries for 221 yards and five touchdowns while K.J. Miller (Greene County) has 37 carries for 182 yards.
The leading receiver is Malcolm Boykin (Hattiesburg) with 37 catches for 635 yards and five touchdowns while B.J. Johnson (Greene County) has 25 catches for 355 yards and three touchdowns, Tristin Purnell (Winona) has 20 catches for 291 yards and one touchdown and Cayden Burger (Petal) has 30 catches for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Cam Joseph (Gulfport) and K.J. Miller (Greene County) each have touchdown receptions while Tavares Wade (Hattiesburg), Colton DeShazo (D’Iberville), Easton Sartin (Bogue Chitto), Rayshawn Hardy (Bob Jones, Ala.), and Matthew Williams (Holmes County Central) each have one touchdown reception.
Andrew Merrell (Bogue Chitto) handles the punting duties and has averaged 37.6 yards per punt. Dan Lindsay (Central Holmes) handles the placekicking duties and is 26-of-27 on extra points and is four of four on field goals with a long of 38.
Defensively, the Bulldogs are led by Jalon Townes (Grenada) with 91 tackles. He has 54 solos and 37 assists. Dandreyus Giles (Holmes County Central) has 63 tackles (40 solos, 23 assists), Dtrevion Parker (Grenada) has 59 tackles (33 solos, 26 assists), P.J. Pace (Kosciusko) has 43 tackles (26 solos, 17 assists), Bishop Riley (Greenville, Ala.) has 45 tackles (25 solos, 20 assists) and Octavious Pernell (Holmes County Central) has 46 tackles (21 solos, 25 assists).
Townes has 10.5 tackles for loss and two sacks while Jeremy Robertson (Amite, La.) has eight tackles for loss and one sack, Kabron Purifoy (Tate, Fla.) has seven tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, E.J. Segrest (Copiah Academy) has six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, Pace has 5.5 TFLs and two sacks, Parker has 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack and Lance Carson has 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Giles led the Bulldogs with four interceptions while Riley, Pernell, Christavious Savior (Louisville), E.J. Segrest and Kabron Purifoy have one apiece.
Riley, Pernell and Jeremy Atkins (West Jefferson, La.) each have two fumble recoveries.
For East Central, Landon Sims (Escambia, Ala.) has appeared in all nine games at quarterback for the Warriors. He was 127-of-220 for 1,485 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions while Chris Tucker (James Madison, Texas) has appeared in all games and was 54-of-88 for 675 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. The Warriors have 2,160 passing yards and 1,075 on the ground.
The leading rusher is Karl Ligon (Autauga, Ala.) with 456 yards on 92 carries with four touchdowns while Keshawn Henley (West Point) has 297 yards on 70 carries and four touchdowns.
The leading receiver is Eelijah Singleton (Lennard, Fla.) with 50 receptions for 607 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Palmer (Montgomery Catholic, Ala.) has 35 catches for 429 yards and two touchdowns while Lawerence Armstrong (Shadow Creek, Texas) has 23 catches for 312 yards. Waymond Jenerette (South Pointe, S.C.) has two touchdown receptions while Jaquel Dukes (Wilkinson County), Tyler Arrington (Wingfield), Terry Patton, Jr. (Pass Christian), Daelyn Patton (Tupelo), Henley, Tucker and Tate Collins (Jackson Academy) each have one touchdown reception.
Nekhi Cox (Oak Grove) handles the punting duties and has averaged 38.8 yards per punt. Cade Mangum (Newton County) handles the placekicking duties and finished 29-of-33 on extra points and is 8-of-14 on field goals with a long of 41.
Defensively, the Warriors are led by Donnie Smith (St. Joe) with 82 tackles. He has 56 solos and 26 assists. Keoni Denny (Sumner, Fla.) has 54 tackles (23 solos, 31 assists), Carson Graham (St. Joe) has 43 tackles (22 solos, 21 assists) and Delvin Whitaker (West Feliciana, La.) has 39 tackles (22 solos, 17 assists).
Smith and Whitaker have 10.5 tackles for loss while Smith has 5.5 sacks and Whitaker has 4.5 sacks. Graham has six tackles for loss while Ahmad Thompson (Tylertown) and Prentiss Eichwurtzle (Mendenhall) each have 5.5 tackles for loss.
Amarien Jefferson (Parklane) has three interceptions while Cedric Moore, Jr. (Greenville) has two and Denny, Graham, Prince Cottonham (Gulfport), Elgin McDuffey (Callaway), Jacobi Green (Destrehan, La.), Shunterrion Sherrod (Noxubee County) and Collins each have one interception.
Smith and Denny each have two fumble recoveries.
*Story by Steve Diffey
