DECATUR – To a revved-up hometown crowd hungry for revenge since the 47-31 trouncing of their East Central Warriors in Clarksdale last year, a sweet victory over Coahoma Community College seemed certain with ECCC’s 31-12 first half lead.

But CCC coach Freeman Horton and his Tigers executed a 180-degree adjustment in the second half, shut down the romping of super quarterback Emmanuel Taylor, Derrick Cade, and company and won 32-31 in a white-knuckle finale.

East Central scored all their points in the first half, missed two field goals in the second, and seemed rattled by the emergence of Coahoma’s new back-up quarterback Garrick Jones of Whitehaven.

It was a tale of two ballgames with sporadic and unsustained starts for Coahoma despite flashes of brilliance from speedster LaDarius Dawson of Rosedale and defensive standout Nico Jones of Fairley.

East Central led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter although the Tigers were close to scoring.

Seconds later freshman Artavis Gregory of Fairley followed quarterback Keondrick Brown’s path and carried the ball over from the 3rd yard line. The PAT attempt failed.

ECCC immediately bounced back after Coahoma’s score with a pair of first downs and a touchdown for a 21-6 lead with 10:49 remaining in the second quarter.

An interception and personal foul bogged down the Tiger offense and spurred ECCC to two more first downs, another TD, and a 28-6 score.

When backup Tiger quarterback Garrick Jones of Whitehaven entered the arena, he threw a 42-yard pass to Bobby Holiday of Fairley on the East Central 23rd yard line, and momentum changed

The PAT failed; the scoreboard showed Coahoma with 12 points below ECCC’s 28 before their 3-point field goal.

In the third quarter, Coahoma’s defense including quickly maturing freshmen forced a punt and paved a runway for Dawson’s flashy return. Passes to Courtney Vaughan of Rosa Fort and Dawson added TD with 18 points vs. 31 for ECCC.

Dawson transformed another forced punt into a 97-yard return into the end zone for six more points plus two for a total of 26.

With the clock ticking down, a holding penalty negated CCC’s touchdown pass from Jones to Dawson, but another to Vaughan nailed a first down on the five yard line.

Gregory took it in. The Tigers tried for two, but missed. However, they soared ahead 32-31 with four minutes remaining.

Making a valiant attempt, Warriors faced 4th down and nine on the 29 yard line, went for it, and came up short.

The Tigers play their next two games at home: Thursday, Sept. 3, with Southwest, and Thursday, Sept. 10 with Mississippi Delta.