No. 14 EMCC Lions secure playoff berth with dominant 63-14 win at Mississippi Delta

MOORHEAD – The 14^th-ranked East Mississippi Community College Lions secured their 13^th conference playoff appearance in the last 15 years with a dominant 63-14 road victory over Mississippi Delta during Thursday's MACCC North Division regular-season finale played at Jim Randall Stadium.

Entering postseason playoff action at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in division play as the MACCC North's No. 2 seed, the EMCC Lions will travel to Perkinston to take on MACCC South top seed Mississippi Gulf Coast in Saturday's (Nov. 5) MACCC Semifinals. Kickoff at MGCCC's A.L. May Memorial Stadium is set for 5 p.m. In the other semifinals, MACCC North champion and nationally third-ranked Northwest Mississippi will play host to No. 2 MACCC South seed Jones College on Saturday.

After fumbling away the opening kickoff, the Lions got on track offensively and proceeded to score touchdowns on nine of their next 10 offensive possessions en route to cruising to the convincing win. EMCC's dominance was also reflected in the final statistics by owning a 474-106 advantage in total offense yards, while most of the second half was played with a running clock due to the MACCC's 38-point mercy rule mandate.

In generating their highest single-game point total since the team's 2017 national championship season, it was the Lions' defense that actually provided the spark for the offense by getting separate 7-yard quarterback sacks from Kason Boston and Steven Cattledge Jr. during Delta's first possession following the fumbled opening kickoff. The initial stop was turned into an 11-play, 95-yard scoring drive that was capped by quarterback Peter Parrish's 8-yard keeper to the end zone at the 8:47 mark.

EMCC's next two scores were set up by separate recovered fumbles by Lion defenders Rodney Groce Jr. and Cattledge during back-to-back Delta possessions. The turnovers were converted into a 10-yard passing touchdown from Parrish to Ethan Conner followed by a 20-yard touchdown run by Amariyon Howard at the 8:27 and 6:43 marks, respectively.

The Lions added another 21 points in the second quarter on three more touchdown tosses from Parrish. The visitors got back on the board 40 seconds into the quarter when Marc Britt II caught an 18-yard touchdown pass to cap an eight-play, 71-yard scoring drive to increase the lead to 28-0.

Following a three-and-out by Delta, EMCC scored its fifth straight unanswered touchdown of the night on Parrish's 15-yard aerial connection to Carl Robinson with 11:52 remaining in the first half.

The Trojans' first score of the night came on the heels of Jylon Davison's 58-yard interception return of a Parrish pass attempt. Three plays after the pick, Delta quarterback Caleb Parten hit JaKell Allen with a 5-yard scoring toss at the 4:45 mark of the second quarter to make it a 35-7 contest.

The visitors responded with the first half's final score when Mike McGowan and Parrish combined on an 11-yard scoring pass play at the 2:16 mark to complete a six-play, 75-yard drive and extend the margin to 35 points (42-7) again.

Following the halftime break, EMCC's defense got things started again in the second half. After Ray Lias Jr. returned a pass interception 28 yards to the Delta 14-yard line, EMCC freshman running back Kiron Benjamin punched it in from 2 yards out to lengthen the lead to 49-7 at the 12:48 mark.

Delta's second and final score of the evening chewed up nine minutes on the game clock, as the 16-play, 77-yard scoring drive culminated at the 1:37 mark with a 1-yard touchdown toss on fourth down from Donovan Cole to Reeheem Fairley.

While continuing to play with a running clock throughout the fourth quarter, Parrish added two more touchdown passes to players scoring for the second time on the night. A 10-yard touchdown catch by Carl Robinson around the 13-minute mark was followed by a 48-yard catch and scoring run by Benjamin with less than five minutes left in the contest.

Statistically for EMCC in the contest, McGowan and Kadarius Calloway led the way on the ground with 84 and 65 rushing yards, respectively, all in the first half of action.

Getting the start and going the distance at quarterback for the Lions, Parrish finished the night 16-of-19 through the air for 202 yards and six touchdowns – the most TD passes in a game by an EMCC signal-caller since Dontreal Pruitt passed for seven touchdowns in a game twice during the Lions' undefeated (12-0) national championship season in 2013.

Carl Robinson and Duke Miller were EMCC's leading receivers in the regular-season finale with four and three catches, respectively.