QB Bo Wallace of the No. 3 EMCC Lions grabs second NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week honor

SCOOBA – For the second time this football season, freshman quarterback Bo Wallace of the third-ranked East Mississippi Community College Lions has been named the NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week by the NJCAA's national office headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo.

This past Saturday in EMCC's decisive 63-35 road divisional victory over then-12^th ranked Northeast Mississippi, Wallace completed 26-of-33 passes for 549 yards, with seven touchdowns and no interceptions, in a little more than one half of play against the Tigers.  The former Arkansas State University redshirt eclipsed the 500-yard passing mark in the first half versus Northeast to propel the visiting Lions to a commanding 42-7 lead early in the second quarter and 49-14 by the intermission.  In throwing seven touchdown passes for the second straight week, Wallace averaged 21.1 yards per completion at Northeast.

For the season, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Wallace leads all NJCAA quarterbacks with 2,356 passing yards and 24 touchdowns through the year's first six games.  The Pulaski, Tenn., native has completed 70 percent (169-of-243) of his passes on the year, with only six interceptions.  Having also twice claimed MACJC Star of the Week recognition from The Clarion-Ledger/jucoweekly.org, Wallace also tops the NJCAA's individual statistical leaders by averaging 392.7 passing yards and 404.8 yards of total offense per contest.

Wallace becomes the first player this season to earn repeat NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week honors, having previously garnered the weekly national award following the Lions' season-opening, 34-30 home triumph over then-No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast.  East Mississippi CC has also become the first football program this year to collect three NJCAA Player of the Week honors.  During Week 3 following the Lions' 45-42 road win over then-No. 4 Northwest Mississippi, EMCC sophomore wide receiver/kick returner Rodney Davis (Millbrook, Ala.) received NJCAA Special Teams Player of the Week laurels.

This week (Oct. 6-9) also becomes the second time this season that two players from Mississippi-based community colleges have been tabbed with NJCAA Player of the Week mentions during the same week, as Northwest Mississippi kicker/punter Chase Carpenter has earned Week 6 Special Teams POTW honors from the national office.  All total, players from the 14-team Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) have been recognized seven times through the first six weeks of the current campaign.

Head coach Buddy Stephens' 6-0 EMCC Lions, 4-0 and atop the MACJC's North Division standings, step out of divisional play for the final time this regular season by traveling to Poplarville to meet the Wildcats of Pearl River Community College Saturday afternoon.  Amidst homecoming festivities around the Pearl River campus, Saturday's EMCC-PRCC kickoff at Dobie Holden Stadium is set for 3 p.m.