No. 8 East Mississippi set to host No. 4 Northwest Mississippi with postseason implications on the line
In one of the most anticipated junior college football games of the season, the eighth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College are set to play host to No. 4 Northwest Mississippi Community College during Thursday's MACJC North Division showdown that will also give the winner an opportunity to host this year's MACJC State Championship Game. Kickoff for EMCC's regular-season home finale at Sullivan-Windham Field is slated for 7 p.m. on the Scooba campus.
SCOOBA – In one of the most anticipated junior college football games of the season, the eighth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College are set to play host to No. 4 Northwest Mississippi Community College during Thursday's MACJC North Division showdown that will also give the winner an opportunity to host this year's MACJC State Championship Game. Kickoff for EMCC's regular-season home finale at Sullivan-Windham Field is slated for 7 p.m. on the Scooba campus.
As head coach Buddy Stephens' East Mississippi Lions eye their seventh MACJC North Division regular-season title in eight seasons, Thursday's EMCC-NWCC winner will also secure a No. 1 seed heading into the Oct. 31 MACJC State Semifinals. The highest-seeded MACJC North team remaining following the first round of the upcoming state playoffs will earn the right to host the MACJC State Championship on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The two-time reigning NJCAA Champion EMCC Lions are 6-1 overall and 4-0 within the division on the year after claiming a 44-28 road win over Holmes last Thursday in Goodman. Playing at home this week for the first time since earning a 48-24 Homecoming victory over Itawamba three weeks ago (Sept. 26), EMCC's other division triumphs this season have come at home against Coahoma (69-0) and at Northeast Mississippi (56-7).
Guided by second-year head football coach Jack Wright, the fourth-ranked Rangers of Northwest Mississippi are undefeated at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in division play after blanking Mississippi Delta, 40-0, this past Saturday in Moorhead. Prior to that, NWCC survived back-to-back nail-biters by knocking off Hinds, 38-37, in overtime and then getting by Holmes, 42-40, on a 35-yard field goal with time expiring in regulation.
EMCC and Northwest enter Thursday's NJCAA gridiron battle both ranked among the top offensive teams in the country. Along with rating second nationally in total offense (611.4 yds/gm) and sixth in scoring offense (51.3 pts/gm), the Lions also rank third in passing (379.3 yds/gm), ninth in rushing (232.1 yds/gm) and tied for second in first downs per game (27.3). Individually, current MACJC Offensive Player of the Week Wyatt Roberts currently stands fifth among the NJCAA's individual statistical leaders with 20 passing touchdowns on the year, along with ranking sixth nationally in passing yards (285.6 yds/gm) and seventh in pass completion percentage (65.2%).
Headlined by sophomore running back Justin Crawford, who is ranked second nationally with an average of 155.9 rushing yards an outing, and the quarterback play of freshman Gardner Minshew, the Northwest Rangers are ranked 14th nationally in scoring offense (38.6 pts/gm), ninth in total offense (511.3 yds/gm) and sixth in passing (309.3 yds/gm).
Now 50-3 overall with three NJCAA championships dating back to the 2011 season when their current football facility opened, the Lions are 26-1 collectively at the "new" Sullivan-Windham Field. Including a pair of home wins during the team's final season at the previous field location on the Scooba campus, EMCC owns a current streak of 23 consecutive regular-season home victories. The Lions' lone home setback at their current 5,000-seat facility was a last-second 47-46 loss to Copiah-Lincoln during the 2012 MACJC State Semifinals.
Winners of six MACJC North Division regular-season football titles during Stephens' eight seasons at the EMCC helm, the Lions own an overall record of 43-3 against division opponents spanning back to the 2008 campaign. East Mississippi has won 16 straight division contests since having its prior 20-game overall win string snapped with a 24-23 defeat at Itawamba during the 2012 regular-season finale.
With an overall head coaching record of 74-11 (.871) with the Lions, including a 13-2 career mark against Top 5-ranked opponents, EMCC's Stephens owns a 6-1 career mark versus Northwest Mississippi. Most recently in games played in Senatobia the past two years, EMCC shut out the Rangers, 49-0, last season and breezed to a 79-7 victory two years ago. However, the previous five head-to-head meetings were each decided by single digits. The winning team over the last seven EMCC-NWCC meetings has averaged 47.1 points per game with the two teams combining for 86 or more points during four of those prior encounters, including a 56-49 shootout victory by the Lions three years ago in Scooba.
Thursday's EMCC-NWCC contest will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield slated to call the play-by-play action and Glen Beard set to serve as the Lions' sideline reporter. EMCC's 2015 football radio broadcasts will also be carried live by SuperTalk Mississippi (WZKR-FM 103.3) out of Meridian as well as through EMCC's new radio station, WGTC-FM (92.7), originating from the Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew.
In addition, EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts are available in HD at www.EMCCathletics.com/live. Alternate audio streams of the radio broadcasts are also available at www.wfcafm108.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow EMCC Athletics through the college's athletics website, www.EMCCathletics.com, and on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@EMCCathletics) via the school's social media hub at www.EMCCathletics.com/Social-Media-Hub.