Racking up 333 rushing yards and winning by 21 points was a nice way for Hinds Community College to start the season.

It just wasn’t great, at least in coach Gene Murphy’s eyes.

Hinds dominated the second half of its opener against Mississippi Delta, but that only offset a sloppy first half in which it committed several turnovers and struggled to gain the upper hand. Those are the type of mistakes Murphy would like to see eliminated in Thursday’s home game against Coahoma Community College.

“We did run the ball effectively, but we still didn’t play well as a team the way we need to. We had penalties and turnovers, and you have to eliminate those things,” Murphy said.

Hinds controlled the game against Mississippi Delta with its powerful rushing attack. Jabari Baker and Darryan Ragsdale each ran for more than 100 yards and a touchdown, and four different players scored on the ground. The Eagles averaged 5.4 yards a carry in the 42-21 victory.

That’s in stark contrast to Coahoma’s effort against Mississippi Gulf Coast. Coahoma turned the ball over five times, gave up 50 points in the first half and lost 64-14.

Three of the turnovers came in the first quarter, when Gulf Coast jumped out to a 29-0 lead. Murphy called it a case of a game getting quickly out of hand and didn’t expect a cakewalk Thursday night.

“What you’ll see is a much better Coahoma team. They had a lot of things that went against them early,” Murphy said. “You’re going to see a much better team, and we have to be much better ourselves.”

Thursday’s game will serve as a warmup of sorts for Hinds before next week’s showdown in Perkinston with Gulf Coast. Both teams are ranked in the top 10 of the National Junior College Athletic Association’s poll — Gulf Coast at No. 3 and Hinds at No. 6. That early-season matchup could be for the Mississippi Association of Junior and Community Colleges South Division championship.

Murphy was trying not to look that far ahead, though.

“My thing is, we’ve got to improve each and every game to be good in this league,” Murphy said. “You have to be about perfect. It’s the toughest league in America.”

On the web

Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

Coahoma at Hinds

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hindsccsports.com