For the second straight season, Itawamba Community College will kick off its season against perennial power, Jones County Junior College. Indians head coach Jeff Terrill, who does not bring back a starting skill position player on offense, officially released his programs schedule for the fall which will send his team on the road to face another south half power the second week, defending state champion Gulf Coast, before opening north division play on September 10 against rival Northeast in Booneville.

"We've got another challenging schedule this fall, I don't think there's any question about that," said Terrill, whose program has made the post-season in four of the last five years. "But we've got some time to get our guys ready for that rugged schedule and I know our staff is looking forward to seeing how some of our prized recruits will mesh with some of the folks we're bringing back from last year's team."

ICC, which finished in third place in the north a season ago (3-3), welcomed back most of its 2009 squad to the Fulton campus on Sunday as they began the second term of summer school on Monday. Itawamba, who has won 27 of its last 38 regular season games, has also scheduled a pre-season scrimmage against Copiah Lincoln Community College on Friday, August 14 at 3:00 at Lambert Stadium in Fulton.

Itawamba Community College head football coach Jeff Terrill didn't have to look far to find his new defensive coordinator. Kenny Jackson has been Terrill's defensive line coach the last five years, four of which he has mentored a lineman that finished among the nation's top five in sacks, and now he'll add coordinator on defense to his responsibilities on the line.

"I just believe the experience Kenny has gained has made him ready and able to be an excellent defensive coordinator in this league," said Terrill, who had been the program's defensive coordinator the last four seasons.

"I'm grateful for this opportunity," said Jackson. "I'm looking forward to this challenge of being in charge of our defense."

Jackson played for Terrill when he was the defensive coordinator at Hinds Community College and was among the Mississippi JUCO Top Ten before the New Orleans native transferred to Ole Miss where he was a standout for two seasons with the Rebels. He also played with the NFL's Detroit Lions and the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League.

Jackson, Terrill and the rest of the ICC coaches are at the Tupelo Country Club today (Monday) for the College's annual golf tourney, where a record 124 golfers will participate in the event.

Southern Miss quarterback Bret Jefcoat is transferring to Itawamba Community College. The former top rated quarterback in the state of Mississippi and No. 10-ranked product by Rivals.com redshirted this past season for the Golden Eagles in his first year in Hattiesburg.

Jefcoat threw for 1,321 yards on 81-of-147 passing with eight touchdowns and just two interceptions and rushed for 642 yards during his senior season (2007) for head coach Jamie Mitchell at Itawamba Agricultural High School. The 6'1, 200 pound standout can also kick and punt which earned him first team 4A All-State honors as a punter by the Mississippi Association of Coaches and was the first team all-state all-purpose player by the Clarion-Ledger. Jefcoat, who was also named All-Area by the Daily Journal, played in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Classic in December of 2007 and threw for 81 yards on 8-of-15 attempts. Rivals also rated him the No. 12 pro-style quarterback in the nation.

"We're absolutely thrilled to have Bret in our program," said an elated ICC head coach Jeff Terrill. "He's a great athlete from a super family. I've been watching him play for a long time now and saw him make some really big plays in high school and I'm looking forward to Bret making more of those same type of plays for us at ICC."

During his junior season, he threw for 900 yards and nine touchdowns to go along with 800 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing and was voted MVP of IAHS football in 2006-2007 and was a team captain his senior season. The versatile athlete was an all-district selection in both baseball and basketball.

Jefcoat is also excited about being able to play baseball, as well, for ICC head coach Rick Collier's nationally-ranked program.

"That was very important to me to be able play football and baseball at ICC," said Jefcoat, who went 10-12 for 48 yards in the Golden Eagles Spring Football Game and drove the second and third string offense down the field and threw a seven yard td and then completed a pass for a two-point conversion to tie the game with less than a minute left against the first string defense. "I really enjoyed my year at Southern Miss. I learned a lot from (USM Head) Coach (Larry) Fedora and his staff. This move is nothing negative toward Coach Fedora or USM. It's just I think ICC is the best place for me right now."

That sounds good to the Itawamba head baseball coach, who just completed a 43-13 campaign and was ranked 4th in the nation in the final NJCAA poll of the season.

"Bret can flat out bring it," said Collier, who was named the MACJC Coach of the Year this past season after leading his Indians to a state championship. "He's a guy that can throw it in the 90's and they don't come around too often."

Written by Nate Beardsley
Media Relations Director
Southern League

Since Opening Day on April 9, former high school and junior college defensive backs across the
southeast have been busy writing sympathy cards to Southern League pitchers. After all, they know what it's like to feel helpless against Desmond Jennings.

Jennings, who patrols centerfield for the Montgomery Biscuits, leads the Southern League in batting, hits, runs and triples. The fifth-ranked prospect in the Tampa Bay organization according to Baseball America, Jennings was once a promising wide receiver.

Jennings signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the University of Alabama, one of the nation's
most storied football programs. However, he was unable to meet the academic requirements and fell
into the fortunate hands of Jeff Terrill, the head football coach at Mississippi's Itawamba Community
College (ICC).

"There is no doubt in my mind that if the circumstances had been different, you would see him playing for the University of Alabama right now,"
Coach Terrill said.

Jennings played just one season for Terrill, but
undoubtedly made a tremendous impact, leading
the nation with 67 catches for 1,005 yards and
nine touchdowns. He was named an All-American
for the 2005 season.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Jennings also played
baseball at ICC for head coach Rick Collier and his nationally-ranked program, and according to Terrill, it didn't take a major league scout to appreciate his talent and natural ability.

"I know very little about baseball but when I went
down there and saw him, I thought, 'Man I'm in
trouble,'" Terrill said. "The first time I saw him
cover ground in the outfield, steal bases and
swing that bat, it didn't take a baseball guy to
notice."

Although Jennings didn't pick up a bat until
February and missed nearly half the season due
to injury, he led the team with a .371 batting
average and ranked first in the state with 26
Desmond Jennings steals in just 26 starts.

The Tampa Bay Rays took notice and scooped him up in the 10th round of the 2006 draft. Clearly,
they've been pleased with his progress, allowing him to start the 2009 season at Double-A Montgomery after injuries limited him to just 24 games at High-A Vero Beach in 2008.

Jennings certainly hasn't forced the Rays to regret that decision.

His current manager, Billy Gardner, Jr., notes several reasons why Jennings has thrived despite basically skipping High-A ball.

"He's obviously highly skilled with a large upside and he plays well on both sides of the ball," Gardner
said. "He's got a very good approach at the plate and has very good strike zone command."

Another asset, one that helped Jennings excel at ICC and with the Biscuits, is his blazing speed and
overall athleticism.

"Desmond is a very good athlete and does things on the field on any given night that will make your
jaw drop," Gardner said. "He's that special type of guy."

Heath Hutchins and Pernell McPhee of Itawamba Community College were named first-team all-Region 23 performers on Monday. Hutchins, a sophomore from Saltillo who last week committed to Mississippi State, leads the nation in punting with a 46.1 average, while McPhee, a sophomore defensive end from Pahokee, Fla., who has also committed to MSU, led the MACJC in sacks for the second straight season with 13.5 this fall in eight games after recording 19.5 a year ago.

"Both Heath and Pernell were extremely deserving of this honor," said ICC head coach Jeff Terrill, who pointed out that McPhee also had 23.5 tackles for a loss, despite getting double-teamed almost the entire season. "I'm hoping we'll see both of these guy's names on an all-American team in the near future."

Joining Hutchins and McPhee, who also made first-team all-Region 23 a year ago, on the MACJC North All-State first-team was freshman offensive lineman Lamar Holmes of Gastonia, N.C., and freshman defensive back Bernard Brinson of Madison, Fla. McPhee was also named for the second straight season the MVP on the defensive line.

Brinson, who was a Florida State signee, also made the second team as a return specialist. ICC freshman offensive lineman Jeff Howie of Chester, Pa. made the second team on offense while sophomore defensive lineman Kelvin Jackson of Hermanville made the same list on defense.