Despite an 0-3 start to the 2010 season, East Central Community College is not playing poor football. Just ask Warriors’ coach Brian Anderson, whose team ranks first among offenses in the MACJC. East Central is averaging 453 yards per game.

    “We’re not playing poorly,” said Anderson. “We’re just making poor plays at the wrong time. You can’t turn the ball over at key times and expect to beat good football teams.

    “We haven’t had to use smoke and mirrors or magic to make these kids believe they have what it takes.”

    That may be what it will take, though, if ECCC is to take down a very tough Pearl River squad on the road Thursday night in what is the Warriors’ MACJC South Division opener. Now the stakes get higher, and according to Anderson his team knows what they are capable of.

    “The kids know that they are a good football team and they know that it will come down to executing on those four or five plays that we haven’t been in order to win,” added Anderson. “Sure we would like to be 3-0 entering into South Division play, but right now we know that these are the games that count and these are the ones that we have to take care of.”

    Those four or five plays Anderson speaks of have been costly errors in turnovers and execution inside the red zone.

    “You want to get the ball into the red zone and then when you get the ball in the red zone you want to be able to get points,” said Anderson. “We have just not been doing a good enough job of that.”

    Anderson and his team are concentrating more on themselves than Pearl River at this point.

    “You know we just want to be as good as we can be,” noted Anderson. “All we worry about is East Central because that’s all we can control.”

    One thing is for certain. When East Central and Pearl River get together its always a entertaining contest. PRCC knocked off ECCC last season in a tightly contested 30-27 overtime win, while the last time the Warriors visited the Wildcats it was East Central coming out on top 44-38 in double overtime.

    Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. today at Dobie Holden Stadium in Poplarville.