By Jim O'Hara
 
CLINTON, Miss. – Make that two in a row.

For the second straight week, the Shorter Hawks turned in a solid performance when they turned in a stout outing on both sides of the ball to hand homestanding Mississippi College a 42-23 defeat in the Hawks GSC opener.

The win, which comes on the heels of an upset of Division I FCS Southeast Missouri State a week earlier, evens Shorter's record to 2-2 overall and gives the Hawks a 1-0 conference slate and more momentum heading into next week's GSC homecoming game against nationally-ranked Delta State.

Coming up with his best game of his young career was sophomore quarterback Aaron Bryant, who ended the night in the Magnolia State scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 99 yards, while also throwing for 51 more yards.

The Hawks also turned in their second consecutive 300-yard game via the run, with junior fullback B.J. McCoy recording his third 100-yard game of the season, this time rushing for 117 yards on just 12 carries as Shorter finished with 351 total yards and averaged a healthy 6.4 yards a play.

Shorter's defense showcased some of its own players as well as junior linebacker Zach Butts, the GSC's leading tackler coming into the game, finished with 10 total tackles, a sack and two tackles for losses; senior linebacker Dominique Henfield had seven total tackles, forced a fumble, had a sack and a tackle for a loss and recovered a blocked punt; and senior All-American safety Jordan Shaw had five solo stops and returned a fumble 61-yards for a touchdown.

The Hawks came out determined to set the tone of the game and did so on both sides of the ball.

After the Shorter's defense forced MC to go three-and-out on the game's first series, the Hawks' offense for the second straight week immediately took the ball the other way, eating up 59 yards on just seven plays to take the lead when Bryant broke into the end zone from four yards out and Kenny Langford added the first of six extra points.

Neither team was able to mount any threat the rest of the opening period, but in the closing minutes of the first quarter the Choctaws found themselves in good field position when Reggie Bennett picked off a Bryant pass to give his team the ball at the Shorter 31.
From there Mississippi College managed to drive down to the Shorter six before the Hawks stood firm and the home team had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Tyler Poe just over two minutes into the second quarter.

Shorter, however, immediately answered with their second touchdown of the night on the Hawks' ensuing possession, once again mounting a lengthy drive that covered 75 yards with Bryant breaking loose for his second score of the game, this time a 37-yard scoring run with 7:42 to go in the half Shorter assumed a 14-3 advantage.

The next time the Choctaws touched the ball, the Hawks' defense came up with their first points of the season when, on a first down play at the Shorter 43, Henfield unloaded on MC quarterback Kyle Smith, and forced a fumble that Shaw scooped up the ball and raced 61 yards to score with 4:44 to go in the half.

Mississippi College managed to add three more points with 17 seconds until the break when Poe split the uprights from 39 yards out.

The Choctaws carried the momentum over to the second half when they recovered a Shorter fumble on the first series of the third quarter at the Shorter 24, but once again could only salvage three points as Poe added his third field goal, this time from 35 yards.

How did the Hawks respond? They added two more touchdowns.

The first came with 7:24 left in the third quarter when Shorter reeled of an 81-yard march that took 10 plays, the final one coming from Bryant when he tallied his third TD of the night from a yard out to make it 28-9.

The second came thanks to a stout defensive series by Shorter the next time MC touched the ball, with Butts and Henfield registering sacks that forced the Choctaws to punt – or try to – as Rodney Jackson broke free from the right side, blocked the attempted boot and Henfield fell on the ball at the home team's one. One play later, sophomore fullback Aki Coles took it the rest of the way to make it 35-9.

Mississippi College reached double digits on the first play of the final quarter when Chris Ingram scored from a yard out, but the Hawks had yet another answer with a 72-yard drive that took 11 plays and ended when Bryant hit paydirt for the fourth time of the night, this time on a seven-yard run with 8:43 remaining and give Shorter a commanding 42-16 lead.

The Choctaws scored their final touchdown of the game with 5:49 left when Quon Brand scored on a two-yard run, but MC would not touch the ball again as Shorter's offense held on to the ball the rest of the way and stood at the MC six when the game ended.

The 42 points was the most by the Hawks since 2013, when Shorter defeated Clark-Atlanta 58-14.