Third-ranked EMCC Lions to play at Mississippi Delta in gearing up for MACJC state football playoffs
As MACJC North Division football champions for the seventh time in eight seasons, the third-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College are set to close out the regular season by traveling to Moorhead to take on Mississippi Delta Community College Thursday evening. Kickoff for EMCC's regular-season finale is set for 7 p.m. at Jim Randall Field on the MDCC campus.
SCOOBA – As MACJC North Division football champions for the seventh time in eight seasons, the third-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College are set to close out the regular season by traveling to Moorhead to take on Mississippi Delta Community College Thursday evening. Kickoff for EMCC's regular-season finale is set for 7 p.m. at Jim Randall Field on the MDCC campus.
Along with having earned their fifth consecutive regular-season division title, head coach Buddy Stephens' EMCC Lions also secured a top seed for the upcoming MACJC State Playoffs with last Thursday's convincing 49-16 home victory over then-No. 4 Northwest Mississippi. The beneficiary of five of the top seven teams in the NJCAA's prior football poll losing this past week, East Mississippi jumped each of those five teams to land in the No. 3 spot nationally in this week's rankings behind top-ranked Butler (KS) Community College and fellow unbeaten Rochester (MN) Community and Technical College.
Reigning two-time champions on the national, regional and state levels, the EMCC Lions will play host to the second-seeded team from the MACJC's South Division in the state semifinals to be played Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus is set for 2 p.m. The other state semifinal matchup will pit No. 1 MACJC South seed Mississippi Gulf Coast against MACJC North runner-up Northwest Mississippi in a game to be contested in Perkinston. The MACJC State Championship Game will be played the following Saturday (Nov. 7) at a site to be determined based on the results of semifinal-round play.
With an eight-year overall record of 75-11 (.872), Stephens owns a 44-3 composite mark (.936) against MACJC North Division opponents spanning back to the 2008 campaign. The Lions have won 17 straight division contests since having their prior 20-game overall win string snapped with a 24-23 defeat at Itawamba during the 2012 regular-season finale. East Mississippi is 22-1 collectively in division road contests since 2008, including division road wins over Northeast Mississippi (56-7) and Holmes (44-28) this season.
Statistically as a team this season, the EMCC Lions are currently ranked second nationally in total offense with an average of 604.0 yards per game. Along with standing third among the NJCAA team statistical leaders in passing offense (358.9 yds/gm) and seventh in rushing offense (245.1 yds/gm), East Mississippi ranks sixth nationally scoring an average of 51.0 points per contest while also averaging an NJCAA-best 27.6 first downs an outing. Defensively, the Lions sit seventh among all NJCAA teams allowing an average of 16.6 points a game.
Guided by former Trojan quarterback Jeff Tatum, Mississippi Delta is 2-6 overall on the season with both victories coming against MACJC North Division opponents. The Trojans prevailed, 21-16, at Coahoma on Sept. 19 and then won again two weeks later at Northeast Mississippi, 28-20. Most recently, MDCC has been shut out consecutively at home by Northwest Mississippi (40-0) and last Thursday at Itawamba (35-0).
EMCC's Stephens is 8-0 against Mississippi Delta as the Lions' head coach, including shutout victories over the Trojans during each of the last four head-to-head meetings. Last season, East Mississippi won, 65-0, in Scooba after blanking Delta, 70-0, the year prior in Moorhead.
Thursday's EMCC-MDCC 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 are also being 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.