Booneville, Miss. – A sluggish beginning caused Northeast Mississippi Community College to accumulate a deficit that it could not come back from on Thursday night. 

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College scored the game's initial 28 points and then held on for a 28-14 victory at Tiger Stadium in Northeast's last non-division matchup of the 2013 regular season.

"We started off slow in the first half," said Northeast wide receiver Khalil Stinson. "We've just got to step it up in practice and come back next week. We're going to go hard for five days and focus on our division."

Stinson was a key part of a large rally by the Tigers after No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast took a comfortable 28-0 lead on its first possession of the third quarter on a Terrian Page 14-yard touchdown pass to Ishmel Morrow.

Just twenty seconds after Morrow's catch, Northeast finally got on the scoreboard when Mitchell Cunningham raced untouched down the Bulldogs sideline for a 63-yard touchdown.

Cunningham's run shifted momentum with 11:16 to play in the third and cut Mississippi Gulf Coast's advantage to 28-7.

"I just do what God gives me, man," said Cunningham. "I took the handoff and it opened up. I saw that the team was down and it got a lot of energy in them."

Tristan Reynolds missed a 43-yard field goal opportunity on the Bulldogs' next drive and Northeast quickly took advantage with another long scoring play.

Jeremy Liggins, who started at quarterback for the first time in his collegiate career, connected with Stinson for a 56-yard touchdown that cut the Tigers' deficit to 28-14.

Northeast (2-3) received the ball again following a punt and Cunningham began the drive with a nice 35-yard rush.

But Mississippi Gulf Coast's defense forced a fourth-down decision to open the final quarter. Chris Cooper completed a fake punt pass on that play that came up just short of moving the chains.

The Bulldogs retained possession the majority of the fourth and used its powerful option running attack to run out the clock.

After being held to only 23 yards last week at Northwest Mississippi Community College, Cunningham returned to his normal form and finished with a career-high 146 yards on nine carries.

"I could not be any more prouder of a guy because nobody's been able to run the ball against Gulf Coast," Northeast head coach Ricky Smither said. "That's big because we want to be able to run the football."

Liggins, a University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) commitment, completed 6 of 12 passes for 89 yards to head an offense that for the first time all season did not give up a turnover by fumble or interception.

"That tells in the scoreboard," said Smither. "When you turn the ball over, it's going to show up somewhere. The kids did what I asked them to do."

The Tigers held Mississippi Gulf Coast (4-1) to its lowest point total to date of the 2013 campaign, but the Bulldogs exceeded their rushing average with 336 total yards.

Antwon Wells toted the ball 33 times for Mississippi Gulf Coast and tallied 205 yards. His nine-yard touchdown run put the Bulldogs up 14-0 with 4:41 remaining on the clock until halftime.

Colton Kane added scoring runs of one and 13 yards from the quarterback position to help the Bulldogs lead 21-0 after two periods of action.

Northeast defensive backs held defending National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American and Auburn University commit Dhaquille Williams to only 24 yards and two catches.

Jamel Dennis and Marcus Robinson continue to pour in productive outings defensively for the Tigers. Dennis had 13 total tackles, two of them for loss, while Robinson added a team-high seven unassisted tackles.

The Tigers get an extended break between games and will not return to the gridiron until Saturday, October 5 for a matchup against Coahoma Community College (0-4, 0-1). The Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College (MACJC) North Division contest has been selected to be the JucoWeekly Game of the Week.

Kickoff of Northeast's 2013 homecoming contest is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Tiger Stadium. The presentation of the homecoming queen and her court will take place during halftime festivities.