GMC News
GMC WINS!!!
GMC wins wild Golden Isles Bowl
By BUD L. ELLIS
The Brunswick News
Georgia Military College didn\’t get to play in a bowl game last season, but the Bulldogs made the most of Saturday\’s appearance in the Sea Island Co. Golden Isles Bowl Classic.
Antroun McDaniel caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ferlando Williams with 1:10 remaining, as the Bulldogs rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College 21-17 in the 11th annual bowl game, before an estimated crowd of 2,500 at Glynn County Stadium.
McDaniel, a 6-foot-1 sophomore running back, was held to 50 yards rushing on 16 carries. But he caught three passes for 117 yards, helping to lead GMC to its first Golden Isles Bowl win since the school won the national junior college championship in 2001.
\”I might not have a lot of speed, but I play with my heart,\” McDaniel said.
Last year, GMC didn\’t win enough games to become bowl eligible, but this year the Bulldogs closed out the season with eight consecutive victories. And the last one was the most memorable, and exciting, of all.
After GMC (9-2) stopped Coffeyville (9-3) on fourth-and-goal from the 1 early in the fourth quarter, McDaniel caught a pass down the left sideline from Williams and raced 84 yards to the Coffeyville 15. Williams then found Phillip Morris on the next play for a 15-yard touchdown, pulling the Bulldogs within 17-14 with 14:13 remaining.
GMC stopped the Ravens at the Bulldogs\’ 10 with 2:26 to go and, four plays later, Morris took a screen pass from Williams and raced 58 yards to the Coffeyville 15. Two plays later, McDaniel caught a screen pass and slipped a tackle, racing in for the go-ahead score.
\”This is a big win,\” GMC coach Bert Williams said. \”This is a great way for our sophomores to go out.\”
Coffeyville took a 2-0 lead on a safety in the second quarter, and pushed it to 9-0 on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Trent Stepps to Devin Thomas. GMC pulled to within 9-7 on a Morris\’ 19-yard touchdown reception from Kelvin Todd late in the second.
Coffeyville running back Travis Evans, who set a bowl game record with 214 yards rushing, scored on a 1-yard plunge, and Stepps\’ two-point conversion pass to Steven Boone made it 17-7 with 3:32 to go in the third.
Evans, who starred at Westside-Macon High, could have given the Ravens a nearly insurmountable lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, but GMC\’s Josh Johnson and Daniel Wilcox stuffed Evans at the goal line on fourth-and-1.
\”It was a great game,\” Evans said. \”I enjoyed everything about being here. They just pulled it out at the end.\”
* See Monday\’s News for complete coverage.
