PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast plays its first game after 22 days, and the Bulldogs will be facing a unique challenge.

Gulf Coast (3-0) faces a Southwest squad that recently has played a unique offense, that the Bears (0-5) have added twists to this year.

“They’ve added some more traditional pieces to their offense on top of having to prepare for the flexbone or triple option,” Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright said. “Now they’ve got some shotgun spread option in, which just makes a hectic week even that much worse.”

The teams also kick off on an unusual date and at an unusual time. The game starts Friday afternoon at 1:30 in Summit. Listen to the Gulf Coast radio broadcast at  https://livestream.com/mgcccbulldogs/events/9391970 or SuperTalk Mississippi 103.1 FM. The video stream will be at https://southwestbearathletics.com/watch.

Brandon Edmonson has been a very efficient passer for the Bears (0-5), completing 40-of-55 passes for 595 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Linebacker Quatavis Harris leads them with 34 total tackles.

Gulf Coast will be playing its 94th game on a Friday, with a 50-34-8 record (A 1930 game against Jones County was ruled out of the records for both teams.). It will be on the heels of a short week of practice, after the Bulldogs returned to campus Tuesday.

“It’s a very different situation, but that’s 2020,” Wright said. “We’ve kind of grown accustomed to changing and having to sometimes slow down, sometimes speed up, sometimes be patient, sometimes be impatient. I think we’re used to the rollercoaster now. I don’t think anybody’s surprised or caught off guard. Everybody knows the situation we’re in, and the kids have had a really good attitude about having to make changes on the run.”

The team’s first practice was an enthusiastic one.

“I’m just glad to have everybody back,” he said. “I’ve been missing everybody, and they’ve been missing each other. We have really good camaraderie on this team, and it was really good to see them interact. They seemed to enjoy being back at work last night. That was really fun to see as a coach.”

Oliver Moreman (So., Lawrence County/Monticello) was one of the ones back on the field, and he’s a guy who doesn’t always show up in the box score. The fullback hasn’t had a carry, and he had single receptions in two games as a freshman. One of those was a 4-yard catch against Southwest on Homecoming, but that’s the extent of his career stat line outside a tackle last year.

Wright said Moreman takes pride in his offensive lineman-like role, where others may get the headlines.

“He’s a huge part of our offense,” Wright said. “He goes unnoticed a lot of time by the casual observer, but we as coaches know how valuable he is to our offense. He’s had that role for the last two years. He’s in great shape, and he’s a great athlete. He’s got great football intelligence. It’s would be hard for us to make first downs and gain yards without the job he’s done. I’m excited to see where he winds up.”

Game #4

WHO: MGCCC (3-0) vs. Southwest (0-5)

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 13, 1:30 p.m.

WHERE: John I. Hurst Stadium, Summit

WATCH: https://southwestbearathletics.com/watch

LISTEN: https://livestream.com/mgcccbulldogs/events/9391970 or SuperTalk Mississippi 103.1 FM