National Champion East Mississippi Lions feature quartet of 2014 NJCAA Football All-Americans

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On the heels of claiming the school's third NJCAA football championship in four years, four members of East Mississippi Community College's national title team have been accorded 2014 NJCAA All-American honors.  The NJCAA national office made the announcement Tuesday.     

This year's quartet of NJCAA All-Americans for head coach Buddy Stephens' unbeaten EMCC Lions consists of first-team quarterback Chad Kelly, first-team defensive standouts Lorenzo Phillips and Demetrius Cain, along with second-team offensive lineman Jamal Danley.  All four EMCC players previously earned 2014 NJCAA All-Region 23 accolades and were tabbed MACJC North Division Most Valuable Players at their respective positions. 

Including this season's four-member contingent and last year's school-record six recipients, EMCC has now garnered a composite total of 23 NJCAA All-Americans in football dating back to the 2008 campaign.  During that same seven-year span, Stephens' EMCC Lions have posted a 68-10 (.872) composite record with ongoing back-to-back national championships and another in 2011, along with four MACJC State/NJCAA Region 23 Championships (2014, 2013, 2011 & 2009) and six MACJC North Division regular-season titles (2014, '13, '12, '11, '09 & '08).   

Kelly's first-team selection extends East Mississippi Community College's current streak to seven consecutive years that the Lions have featured an NJCAA All-American quarterback.  The 6-foot-3, 220-pound sophomore signal-caller follows in the footsteps of Dontreal Pruitt (now at Troy University), Quez Johnson (Florida Atlantic), Bo Wallace (Ole Miss), Brad Henderson (Northwestern [La.] State), and two-time honoree Randall Mackey (Ole Miss).

Kelly, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., tied for the NJCAA lead with 47 touchdowns thrown and ranked second nationally in pass completion percentage (66.9%).  On the season, the Clemson University transfer completed 303-of-453 passes for 3,906 yards and had only eight interceptions.  Completing his lone EMCC campaign by hitting 40-of-53 passes for 434 yards and five touchdowns against second-ranked Iowa Western Community College, Kelly was tabbed as the 2014 Player of the Year by the Mississippi Bowl Committee following the Lions' recent 34-17 victory over IWCC in the NJCAA Football Championship Game/Mississippi Bowl VII played Dec. 7 in Biloxi.

Danley, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound offensive lineman out of Byhalia High School, has been a two-year mainstay on EMCC's offensive line that paved the way for the 2014 Lions to average 53.8 points (4^th in NJCAA) and 537.1 yards of total offense (5^th in NJCAA) per contest.  The Lions' 91 total touchdowns on the year stood second nationally among the NJCAA ranks behind only Trinity Valley Community College (95 TDs).   

Defensively, EMCC's Phillips and Cain headlined the NJCAA's stingiest stopper unit throughout the 2014 campaign.  Along with leading the nation in scoring defense by allowing just 7.6 points per game, the Lion defenders collectively ranked third nationally with 58 total quarterback sacks and 21 pass interceptions.  While not surrendering a rushing touchdown throughout the nine-game regular season, East Mississippi held the opposition scoreless in 35 of the team's 48 quarters played on the year, including a string of 23 consecutive scoreless quarters which comprised five straight shutouts.

Phillips, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound sophomore transfer from LSU by way of Patterson (La.) High School, ranked fourth among NJCAA pass-rushers with 14 sacks for 80 yards lost.  Along with being credited with 46 total tackles on the year, including 18.5 total stops behind the line of scrimmage, Phillips had two fumble recoveries for touchdowns and also caused two fumbles.   

Also with a pair of touchdowns this year coming on pick-six pass interceptions, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Cain tied for 13^th nationally with five picks for 168 return yards and the two scores from his linebacker spot.  The Hazlehurst High School product ranked as EMCC's third-leading tackler on the season with 55 total stops (48 solos & 7 assists), including six tackles behind the line of scrimmage.