RAYMOND — A big connection from quarterback Wesley Mounger to split end Cordell Valentine helped propel Hinds Community College to a 31-16 homecoming win over Itawamba Thursday night at Renfroe Stadium.

Mounger hit Valentine, a former Warren Central wide receiver, on a 68-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter to give the Eagles a 17-0 lead. It was the longest play of Valentine’s career.

“At first I didn’t know I would get to it,” said Valentine of the deep post route. He had to break late to catch up to the long pass at the 20. Once he caught his balance, Valentine sprinted to the end zone to complete the score.

Hinds’ defense helped make the 17-point lead stand up. They forced three turnovers, including Robert Jones’ 84-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the Eagles (3-4) up 31-14 with 9:48 to play.

“We had a blitz on and that forced the quarterback to make a bad read. I just have to credit the D-line for creating it,” Jones said of his pick-six of ICC quarterback Bret Jefcoat. The Eagles’ defensive line did its part by sacking a pair of Indian quarterbacks five times in the game.

Jefcoat led the Indians (2-5) on a pair of scoring drives in the second half to keep ICC in the game. The first came on his 9-yard TD run set up by a fumble by Valentine after a 27-yard gain to the Hinds 40. Jefcoat also had a 50-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter to make it 24-14 and he made both PAT kicks.

Mounger, Valentine and Vicksburg High’s Trey Prentiss, however, made enough plays to deliver a win.

“We want to play like this over the next two weeks,” said Mounger, who completed 10-of-19 passes for 235 yards. His 33-yard toss to Prentiss set up a 1-yard TD run by Anton Taylor to make it 24-7 following a PAT kick by former Warren Central kicker Jared Thames in the third quarter.

Mounger had earlier hit Jerrell White on a 23-yard TD pass in the first quarter to open the scoring. The former Clinton quarterback hit eight of his first 11 passes for 185 yards and two scores. He also had a 44-yard run and finished with a game-high 97 yards on the ground.

Thames, who had two PAT kicks in the first half, booted a 41-yard field goal just seconds into the second quarter to increase Hinds’ lead to 10-0.

Hinds coach Gene Murphy felt much better about his team after the win.

“We played a lot better than we did last week. We made some big plays on offense,” Murphy said.

Valentine finished with three catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. Prentiss had one catch for 33 yards and had 16 yards on three combined kick and punt returns.

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com