Reigning NJCAA Champion East Mississippi Lions resume division play by hosting Holmes Bulldogs Thursday

SCOOBA – Heading down the home stretch of the regular season, the top-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College begin the final third of their MACJC North Division football slate by playing host to Holmes Community College Thursday night on the Scooba campus.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field.

Sporting an 18-game winning streak and winners of 38 of their last 40 games during a current four-year span that encompasses NJCAA national championships in 2011 and 2013, head coach Buddy Stephens' 6-0 EMCC Lions bounce back with a short preparation week after blanking then-No. 12 Jones County, 55-0, this past Saturday afternoon during Homecoming weekend on the Scooba campus.  Looking for their fourth straight MACJC North Division football title and sixth in seven years, the Lions have outscored their division opponents (Coahoma, Northeast Mississippi and Itawamba) by a combined score of 199-14 this season.  EMCC is 36-3 against MACJC North Division foes during the Stephens era.

With recent back-to-back shutout victories over Jones County and Itawamba (51-0), East Mississippi is now outscoring its 2014 opposition by an average margin of 52.3 points per game on the year.  The Lions lead the NJCAA in scoring defense by allowing an average of only 6.3 points an outing while ranking fourth in scoring offense at 58.7 points per contest.  EMCC has now registered seven shutouts during the team's current 18-game win string.

Having yet to allow a rushing touchdown through six games, EMCC has held the opposition to negative team rushing yards in a game three times this season, including minus-20 yards in 15 rushing attempts by Jones County this past Saturday.  Additionally, EMCC's NJCAA-leading five pick-six pass interceptions match the total number of touchdowns surrendered by the Lions all season.

Further showcasing East Mississippi's gridiron dominance thus far, the Lions' stifling defense has held the opposition scoreless in 18 of the 24 quarters played this season, including a current streak of 10 consecutive scoreless periods.  In contrast, EMCC's explosive offensive unit has scored 20 or more points in eight different quarters, including single-quarter efforts of 37, 35 and 34 points in division play against Northeast Mississippi and Coahoma.

Highlighted by the outstanding play of transfer quarterback Chad Kelly, EMCC's highly efficient offensive attack ranks fourth nationally with an average of 567.8 yards of total offense per game.  A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Kelly is rated third among NJCAA quarterbacks in passing yards per contest (341.8 yds/gm), third in pass completion percentage (69.3%) and fourth with 24 passing touchdowns.  As a trio, Kelly, fellow sophomore Todd Mays and freshman Wyatt Roberts are completing better than 70 percent of their passes with 26 touchdowns and only four interceptions between them.

On the receiving end, East Mississippi features 11 different players with at least one touchdown reception for the year.  Sophomore Kameron Myers has a team-leading six scoring grabs followed by Brandon Acker and Camion Patrick with five touchdown catches apiece.  Also showcasing EMCC's depth on the defensive side of the ball, 11 different players have been credited with at least one quarterback sack this season, highlighted by Lorenzo Phillips' club-best 11 sacks to rank second nationally.

Guided by fourth-year head football coach Jeff Koonz, Holmes Community College owns a 2-4 overall record and 1-2 division mark after dropping a 28-14 home decision to Northwest Mississippi last week in Goodman.  The Bulldogs' wins have both come at home against Hinds (28-21 on Aug. 28) and Mississippi Delta (27-8 on Sept. 25).  Holmes' other setbacks on the campaign have come at the hands of Pearl River (28-14), Itawamba (19-3) and East Central (14-6).

In the recent series history between EMCC and Holmes, the Lions have prevailed in each of the last eight gridiron meetings dating back to the 2006 season.  Stephens is unbeaten in six prior meetings with Holmes, including shutout wins over the Bulldogs last season in Goodman (55-0) and two years ago in Scooba (35-0).                 

Throughout this football season, EMCC's football games will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Glen Beard set to describe the play-by-play action and John Lyle Briggs serving as the Lions' sideline reporter.  EMCC's 2014 football radio broadcasts are also slated to be carried live by SuperTalk Mississippi (WZKR-FM 103.3) and WMOX-AM (1010) out of Meridian. 

In addition, EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/emcc-football) will be available in HD by accessing EMCC's athletics website, www.EMCCAthletics.com.  An alternate audio stream of the radio broadcast will also be available at www.wfcafm108.com.