11th-ranked EMCC Lions set to visit No. 15 Itawamba Thursday in MACJC gridiron action

SCOOBA – In their third road outing through the first month of the football season, the 11^th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College will travel to Fulton to take on the 15^th-ranked Itawamba Community College Indians Thursday evening in an MACJC North Division gridiron battle.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Eaton Field on the ICC campus.

Now 2-1 overall on the year, head coach Buddy Stephens' EMCC Lions moved up three notches to No. 11 nationally in this week's NJCAA rankings after posting a 54-10 home victory over previously unbeaten Northeast Mississippi in their division opener last Thursday in Scooba.  Prior to that, EMCC bounced back from its hard-fought, season-opening 27-25 setback at now-No. 6 Jones County to knock off then-No. 17 Mississippi Gulf Coast, 45-7, in Perkinston.

Last week during their home opener and division debut, the EMCC Lions scored 41 unanswered points to break open a tight contest in the second half en route to claiming the 44-point victory over Northeast Mississippi at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.  While their six rushing touchdowns a week ago against Northeast matched a single-game EMCC mark during the Stephens era, the Lions conversely did not have a passing touchdown in the game for the first time since Stephens took over the East Mississippi program in time for the 2008 season.

Despite not throwing for a touchdown against the Tigers a week ago, Florida State transfer quarterback De'Andre Johnson was named the MACJC Offensive Player of the Week for putting up 323 yards of total offense on 24-of-37 passing as well as rushing nine times for 37 yards and two touchdowns.  For the season, the Jacksonville, Florida native has completed 64 percent (46-of-72) of his passes for 521 yards and three touchdowns, while also ranking as the Lions' leading rusher on the year with 93 yards on 19 attempts.

Johnson and back-up quarterback Vijay Miller, out of Itawamba AHS, have combined to connect with 14 different receivers through EMCC's first three games.  Freshman Calvin Keys Jr., from Collins, leads the way with 11 receptions.  Starkville's Raphael Leonard, a transfer from Florida Atlantic University, follows with 10 catches for team-high totals of 185 receiving yards and three touchdown grabs.      

Defensively for East Mississippi, Texas Tech transfer linebacker Dakota Allen, the MACJC's Week 1 Defensive Player of the Week, paces EMCC with 39 total tackles on the season.  As a team for the year, the Lions have intercepted four passes for 145 return yards along with totaling 21 tackles for loss, including 10 sacks for 58 yards lost.

Guided by third-year head coach Sean Cannon, 15^th-ranked Itawamba Community College is 2-1 overall after dropping its division opener, 27-13, on the road against reigning national champion and second-ranked Northwest Mississippi last Thursday in Senatobia.  ICC opened the current campaign with victories over MACJC South Division foes Mississippi Gulf Coast (23-12 in Fulton) and Hinds (45-20 in Raymond).

With a nine-year overall record of 78-12 (.867) and MACJC North Division mark of 46-3 (.939), EMCC's Stephens is 7-1 versus Itawamba during his head coaching career.  Last season (Sept. 26) during Homecoming 2015, the Lions scored the first 31 points of the game on the way to posting a 48-24 victory over the Indians at Sullivan-Windham Field.  Two years ago in Fulton (Sept. 25, 2014), visiting EMCC blanked Itawamba, 51-0, to kick off a stretch of five consecutive shutout victories for the Lions during their 2014 national championship season.   

In addition, Stephens is 23-1 in MACJC North Division road contests during his EMCC career, with that lone setback (24-23) coming at Itawamba four years ago (Oct. 27, 2012) to snap the Lions' previous 20-game overall winning streak that had dated back to their undefeated 2011 national championship season.  That defeat at ICC in their 2012 regular-season finale also marked the Lions' last MACJC North Division loss.  Since that one-point setback in Fulton, EMCC has won 19 consecutive division contests, including nine straight division road wins during the past three seasons.  

Overall, the EMCC Lions will enter Thursday's contest at Itawamba having prevailed in 54 of their last 58 games dating back to the start of the 2011 season when they moved into their current 5,000-seat home football facility.

Thursday's MACJC North Division gridiron battle between No. 11 EMCC and 15^th-ranked Itawamba will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield slated to provide the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively, and Glen Beard set to serve as the Lions' sideline reporter.  EMCC's 2016 football radio broadcasts will also be carried live by SuperTalk Mississippi (WZKR-FM 103.3) out of Meridian as well as through EMCC's campus radio station, WGTC-FM (92.7), originating from the Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew.

Additionally, EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts will be available in HD at www.EMCCAthletics.com/live.  Alternate audio streams of the radio broadcasts are also available at www.wfca.fm.  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.