East Mississippi set to host Itawamba in division action with new No. 1 national ranking in hand

SCOOBA – New No. 1-ranked and reigning state champion East Mississippi Community College returns home to play host to Itawamba Community College during Thursday's MACJC North Division action on the Scooba campus.  Kickoff for EMCC's home division football opener is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field.

Taking advantage of previously top-ranked Arizona Western College's open week, the 3-0 EMCC Lions edged the Matadors by a single vote (137-136) and grabbed five of the nine first-place votes to flop spots at the top of the national rankings.  This marks the seventh consecutive year that East Mississippi has been No. 1 in the NJCAA football rankings at some point during the season.  Most recently, the Lions were rated No. 1 nationally in the 2015 and 2016 preseason polls after sitting atop the rankings for most of the 2014 campaign on the way to capturing their third national championship in four years.           

Following season-opening home wins over MACJC South Division powers Jones County (47-34) and Mississippi Gulf Coast (49-10), the 2017 Lions opened division play in dominating fashion by blanking Northeast Mississippi 59-0 on the road last Thursday to improve their overall winning streak to 14 consecutive games and extend their division win string to 25 straight contests dating back to the 2013 season.  A week ago in Booneville, East Mississippi outgained Northeast 374-91 in total offense yards and 23-4 in first downs.

As 10^th-year head coach Buddy Stephens picked up his 90^th career victory during last week's shutout at Northeast, the Lions were well-balanced offensively with 186 rushing yards and 188 yards through the air.  Sophomore running back Tyrell Price ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries to again lead the way for EMCC on the ground.  His seven total rushing touchdowns on the year are currently tied for the NJCAA lead.  In the passing game, LSU transfer quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. was 19-of-26 for 174 yards in a little more than one half of play last Thursday.  On the night in Booneville, 11 different EMCC receivers caught passes from Scott and backup signal caller Ti'Morrius Conner.   

Defensively a week ago, the Lions limited Northeast to just 40 yards rushing and 51 yards passing for the game while allowing only four total first downs.  The dominating defensive effort marked EMCC's 20^th shutout win during the Stephens coaching era.  Special teams also played an integral role in the Lions' impressive victory over the Tigers, as Marshall transfer Brandon Rodgers ran in a punt blocked by freshman receiver Braden Boykin for a score and later Texas A&M/Oregon transfer Kirk Merritt had a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Guided by fourth-year head coach Sean Cannon, Itawamba broke into the win column in a big way last week by claiming a 27-24 home triumph over then-No. 5 Northwest Mississippi.  With their three decisions thus far on the year having been decided by only eight total points, the Indians previously dropped close decisions to MACJC South Division foes Mississippi Gulf Coast (42-41 in Perkinston) and Hinds (35-31 in Fulton).  Prior to being promoted to head coach in 2014, Cannon spent the previous four seasons as ICC's defensive coordinator and assistant head coach on Jon Williams' staff.

EMCC's Stephens, the school's career wins leader (90-12) and the NJCAA's all-time leader in career winning percentage (.882) for coaches with 100 or more career games coached, owns an 8-1 career record against Itawamba (3-0 in Scooba, 4-1 in Fulton & 1-0 in West Point).  A year ago (Sept. 22) in Fulton, the Lions and Indians combined for 1,530 yards of total offense and 86 points while running 187 total offensive plays between them before the visitors came away from Eaton Field with a 44-42 victory.  Most recently in Scooba, EMCC claimed a 48-24 home win over ICC two years ago (Sept. 26, 2015).

Despite playing the second halves of their recent mercy-rule wins over Mississippi Gulf Coast and Northeast Mississippi with a running clock, the EMCC Lions continue to rank among the Top 10 national team statistical leaders in passing yards (3^rd; 307.0 yds/gm), scoring (5^th; 51.7 ppg), rushing touchdowns (6^th; 12); total offense (6^th; 484.3 yds/gm) and first downs (8^th; 23.7/gm).  Itawamba, with sophomore quarterback Dan Ellington under center, currently ranks second nationally in averaging 330.0 passing yards per contest.  Individually for the Indians, sophomore receiver Terry Williams leads the NJCAA with an average of 8.7 catches per game and ranks second with 120.3 receiving yards an outing.           

While sporting a current 25-game home winning streak over the past five seasons, the EMCC Lions are collectively 66-4 overall, including a 35-1 composite home record, spanning back to the 2011 campaign when East Mississippi's new Sullivan-Windham Field opened.

Thursday's EMCC-ICC contest 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 2017 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.

In addition, 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.