GMC solid in 55 - 20 win over Arkansas Baptist
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Georgia Military College was solid in all three phases of the game and scored in every quarter as the Bulldogs rolled to a convincing 55-20 win over Arkansas Baptist College here Saturday afternoon at Quigley Cox Stadium at Verizon Wireless Field.
Seven different Bulldogs scored in the game as GMC put up points via the run, pass, field goal and returned an interception for a touchdown.
GMC took the lead less than four minutes into the game and never looked back as the Bulldogs climbed above the .500 mark with a 5-4 record heading into the November 9 regular-season finale.
“It’s always helpful when you can play from the front instead of in a chase mode,” GMC head coach Bert Williams said. “We got out to an early lead and did some things well offensively. We had some good drives and some big plays. On a hot day out in Arkansas, it was good to get some separation.”
With the win, head coach Bert Williams tied Lew Cordell’s mark of 118 wins at GMC and the Bulldogs will attempt to get Coach Williams No. 119 on November 9 against Lackawanna College (Pa.) in Huntington, W.Va.
Cordell went 118-36-7 from 1936-58 and Williams is now 118-41 in his 15th year at GMC with a National Junior College Athletic Association title in 2001.
“I was blessed to have a few years with Coach Cordell when I first got here,” Williams said. “He was always around and I spent a lot of time talking to him. It’s hard to look at someone like that who is a legend to our school and this town and think that I could touch a record like that. It’s humbling. But it also makes me feel very fortunate to be at a place like this long enough and achieve a level like that.”
GMC took the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards in eight plays as Jovon Robinson (Memphis, Tenn.) finished the drive with a 1-yard TD run to put the Bulldogs up 7-0 after Nicholas St. Germain’s (Powder Springs, Ga.) extra point.
St. Germain came back to nail a 34-yard field goal and then Tyler Herman (Lawrenceville, Ga.) scrambled in from 22 yards out for a TD to put GMC up 17-0 with just three seconds left in the opening quarter.
GMC pushed the advantage out to 24-0 when Herman hit Dieonte Bryant (McDonough, Ga.) on a 7-yard TD strike with 11:42remaining in the second quarter.
Arkansas Baptist, which ends its season at 2-8, finally got on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter when Lavon Meeks plowed in from two yards out to make it 24-6.
GMC answered with 3:02 to go before halftime when Herman hit Keinan Lewis (Anderson, S.C.) on a 5-yard scoring pass to push the lead out to 31-6.
Arkansas Baptist got its second TD of the opening half when Meeks connected with Adrian Reed on a 5-yard TD pass with 1:26remaining to make it 31-12 at the break.
The GMC defense came up with the first score of the second half when Taylor Payne (Milledgeville, Ga./GMC Prep) picked off an Arkansas Baptist pass and returned it 40 yards for a score and a 38-12 GMC lead.
Quez Nesbitt (Greer, S.C.) then got loose on a 69-yard scoring run and later added a 1-yard run to make it 52-12 as GMC completed a 21-point third quarter.
St. Germain finished off GMC’s scoring with a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter before Arkansas Baptist closed out the contest with a Kenyatte Allen-to-Markeis Levatte 25-yard pass with 2:06 remaining.
“We played a very willing opponent,” Williams said. “Arkansas Baptist played hard from start to finish. But I think we just overmatched them a little bit. We did have some bad news as Dominique Taylor Columbia, S.C.), who has been our go-to receiver lately, broke his collarbone and then Rakeem Benjamin (Sumter, S.C.) had a knee injury. So both of those guys are done for this season.”
Herman finished 16 of 32 for 290 yards with two TD passes and also had a rushing TD while Nesbitt had four carries for 67 yards and a pair of TD runs for GMC.
Robinson led the way with 10 rushing attempts for 76 yards and a TD run while Lewis and Bryant each had a TD reception for the Bulldogs.
Tresvon Coakley (Johns Island, S.C.) added 57 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Taylor had three catches for a team-high 77 yards before leaving with the injury and Julian Williams (Suwanee, Ga.) added four receptions for 61 yards.
Payne added a defensive TD on the pick-six and St. Germain finished the afternoon with 13 points with two field goals and seven extra points.
Cannon Thomas (Brunswick, Ga.) led GMC with seven tackles to go along with two pass-breakups while Janor Jones (Ellenwood, Ga.) and Case Woodard (Lithonia, Ga.) each had six tackles.
Corey Neely (Rock Hill, S.C.) added five tackles and came up with an interception as did Brenton Wimberly (Albany, Ga.).
GMC 55, ABC 20
GMC 17 14 21 3 - 55
ABC 0 12 0 8 - 20
FIRST QUARTER
GMC: Jovon Robinson 1 run (St. Germain kick) 11:52
GMC: Nicholas St. Germain 34 FG, 3:35
GMC: Tyler Herman 22 run (St. Germain kick):03
SECOND QUARTER
GMC: Dieonte Bryant 7 pass from Herman (St. Germain kick) 11:42
ABC: Lavon Meeks 2 run (kick failed) 7:52
GMC: Keinan Lewis 5 pass from Herman (St. Germain kick) 3:02
ABC: Adrian Reed 5 pass from Meeks (pass failed) 1:26
THIRD QUARTER
GMC: Taylor Payne 40 interception return (St. Germain kick) 14:47
GMC: Quez Nesbitt 69 run (St. Germain kick) 10:46
GMC: Nesbitt 1 run (St. Germain kick) 3:14
FOURTH QUARTER
GMC: St. Germain 28 FG, 13:30
ABC: Markeis Lavette 25 pass from Kenyatte Allen (Allen run) 2:06
Pictured: Jordan Brown