Coahoma Community College was given a chance of redemption after last week's Northeast loss. Unfortunately, they could not get the job done, on their own stomping ground and lost their first home game of the season to Itawamba Community College 19-14. Before the matchup, Coahoma was ranked third in the MACCC Northern Conference behind Northeast and Northwest while Itawamba was ranked seventh having lost both of their previous games.

Earlier on Saturday, the weather conditions were cloudy and raining, but at kickoff, the rain had subdued and made for a great afternoon of football at the James E. Miller Stadium. Coahoma fans, while following COVID-19 seating guidelines made their presence felt to cheer on their favorite football team. Head coach Travis Macon was truly grateful for the tremendous support shown to his team."It tells me that our fans really do support us, they are showing up, no matter the location from home to away games, they have been there," said Macon.

The Indians' came for revenge after losing their season opener game against CCC where they lost 37-23. Macon believes Itawamba didn't do anything differently from the first matchup, but instead that the Tigers did not capitalize on their own opportunities."The times we had a chance to take the game over we just did not make the plays, we played hard but we did not finish at all," said Macon.

The Indians' offense came out with an explosive 60-yard pass from Loden Bolen that resulted in a touchdown by Qua Davis. Dylan Faulk would achieve the extra point kick and ICC would lead the game 7-0 within the first four minutes of the game. Coahoma would respond by driving down the length of the field and ending the drive with a 4 yard pass from Bryce Wallace to Jackobi Jackson who would sprint into the end zone for a touchdown. Noah Sisk would secure the extra kick for Coahoma and even the score to seven. Once again Coach Macon was truly impressed with his kicker and punter, Sisk who he believes is improving every week while at Coahoma. "Throughout the game, he did a really good job of flipping the field for us, Noah is becoming one of the top five punters in the league. We are extremely proud of him," exclaimed Macon.

The second quarter started and the Indians' would break the tie with Jamarcus Quarrels breaking out on a 35 yard run for a touchdown. The extra point kick was unsuccessful but Itawamba were back in the lead,13-7. Tigers remained focused and aimed to place points on the scoring board. The offense once again marched down the field, converting multiple 3rd down situations. With Jackobi Jackson down, the run game relied heavily on KeAndre McCullough and freshman Markell Young.Tigers ran the ball effectively and were threatening to score in the red zone but were stopped in their tracks by Itawamba's defense and a number of interceptions. 

Coahoma fans would be stunned again as Itawamba would score their second touchdown the same way they scored their first. Itawamba's Bolden would set up an 82 yards play to Qua Davis who would finish with a touchdown. Once again the Indians' were unsuccessful with their extra-point kick, but nevertheless, Coahoma was still in trouble as the score would read 19-7. 

Tigers kicked it into overdrive in the last five minutes before going into halftime. Deldrionn Amos caught a 37-yard pass from Bryce Wallace and action was set at first down and goal with 12 seconds before halftime. Unfortunately, with no timeouts remaining, the clock would run out on the next play and the Tigers did not add any points to the score board.

Coach Macon and his team came out of the half to correct earlier missed opportunities. In the opening drive of the second half, the Tiger come out clicking on all cylinders and finish the drive with a touchdown pass to Von Hill putting the tigers back in the game. Macon praised Hill for all his work throughout the game. "Von is our workhorse when it comes to the deep ball and other teams are catching on and zooming in on him," said Macon.

Kicker, Noah Sisk would assist his team by scoring the extra point and Coahoma would only trail by five, giving CCC fans hope with a 19-14 score.

The Tigers defense would remain solid for the third quarter and Itawamba would not put any points on the board. Macon explained that the defense realized the importance to pick up their aggression to stop Itawamba from completing plays. "The defense did play lights out, Allen Robertson stood out to me, also Desmon Williams had a good game. We did struggle in the first half by missing tackles and giving up three big plays, which turned into touchdowns, but they came out with so much energy in the second half and had a number of good turnovers," said Macon.

Coahoma offensively kept pushing towards the end zone and carried the momentum straight into the last quarter. Even though Macon did not get the desired outcome at the end of the game he still appreciated the improvements he witnessed from last week's game against Northeast."I think the running game was better this time around, Itawamba did load the box upon us late but we will overcome this adversity," said Macon. Tiger fans should also note that after Jackson's touchdown in the first quarter, he did not return to the game after suffering some discomfort in his ankle. Macon expressed that Jackson was missed for the rest of the game."When you have a back like Jackson you can always use him in tight ball games like this and even though we needed him our players stepped up to the plate but just did not make the plays we needed," said Macon.

The last four minutes of the final quarter would be intense as Wallace eagerly gained yards towards the red zone. Itawamba tried its absolute best to prevent Coahoma by forcing interceptions and incomplete passes. The entire quarter would be pointless as both teams could not get on the scoreboard. Itawamba would slow the pace of the game down and hold off their lead returning to Fulton, Mississippi, with their first victory of the season.

Coach Macon and his entire coaching staff will regroup and get ready to visit Senatobia, Mississippi to play Northwest Mississippi Community College on October 29. "They are going to be well-coached. We have to get back to the drawing boards as early as Sunday, starting first with my coaches, we are going to watch the game and determine how to fix our errors quickly. We are remaining positive anything can happen in the North," said Macon.

Keep visiting Coahoma Athletics new and improved website for all updates, game stories, and schedules.