A disappointing season for Hinds Community College at least had a memorable finish.
Hinds’ defense stopped a potential game-winning two-point conversion with 37 seconds left, and hung on for a 31-30 win over Southwest Mississippi Community College in the season finale for both teams on Thursday night.
Hinds quarterback James Summers ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns, and surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season. The sophomore finished with 1,001 yards. Summers was also 14-for-21 passing for 133 yards on Thursday, and finished the season with 1,347 yards.
Joshua Dixon also had a big night on the ground for Hinds (5-4, 3-3 MACJC South), rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
Dixon ripped off a 49-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Summers put Hinds ahead 31-17 with a 5-yard TD run with 6:47 left in the game.
Southwest (3-5, 2-4), though, struck twice in the waning moments to have a shot at the win. Chris Jones scored from a yard out with 3:23 to go, then quarterback De’Angelo Ballard threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Shuntez Smith with 37 seconds left to pull the Bears within a point.
Southwest went for the win instead of the tie, and Ballard’s two-point pass fell incomplete.
Ballard threw two touchdown passes in the game, and Jones ran for two TDs.
Jemarcus James had 11 tackles and Barron Burns had 10 for Hinds, which went to a bowl game last season but never got on track this year.
The Eagles lost two in a row before beating Southwest, and never won more than two consecutive games at any point in the season.