No. 13 EMCC Lions rebound with 47-23 home victory over No. 4 Jones to kick off home stand

SCOOBA – The 13^th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College bounced back from last week's season-opening setback at Copiah-Lincoln by claiming a quality 47-23 home triumph over No. 4 Jones College during Thursday's MACCC football action played at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field.

Along with improving to 13-4 in bounce-back games during the Buddy Stephens coaching era, the Lions remained unbeaten (6-0) in home meetings against Jones dating back to 2008. Under Stephens' guidance, EMCC has only dropped consecutive decisions during three of Stephens' 15 seasons at the Lions' helm.

Avenging last year's 42-28 loss at Jones, the Lions outscored the Bobcats, 33-3, over the final 41 minutes of this year's contest. Following a three-and-out on EMCC's initial possession of the rematch, the two teams combined to score alternating touchdowns on four consecutive offensive possessions during the opening quarter.

The visitors got the high-scoring first quarter started by completing a seven-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass from DJ Smith to Houston Johnson at the 11:09 mark. The Lions responded by marching 75 yards on nine plays to knot the score on Ty Keyes' 21-yard scoring toss to Raymon Blackmon with 8:41 remaining in the quarter.

That same scenario played out in the subsequent series exchange when Smith's 23-yard scoring strike to Marlon Lindsey Jr. at the 5:07 mark was answered by Keyes' 19-yard touchdown toss to Lee Wade at the 2:25 mark to even the score at 14-all heading into the second quarter.

At the start of the new quarter, the Bobcats took advantage of a muffed punt return attempt by EMCC to regain offensive possession at the Lions' 15-yard line. Two plays later, Jones went back ahead, 20-14, on Smith's 11-yard keeper with 12:49 still remaining in the opening half. Less than two minutes later, EMCC's third straight touchdown answer was aided by Marcus Harris' 51-yard kickoff return that set up Keyes' 31-yard scoring pass to Jacobi Moore at the 10:58 mark. Cole Arthur's PAT conversion gave the Lions a lead (21-20) they would not relinquish the rest of the night.

Defense and special teams contributed to EMCC's fourth passing touchdown of the opening half - all to different receivers. Jaylon York's 36-yard punt return was aided by a 15-yard illegal block penalty called on Jones to enable the Lions to set up shop at the Bobcats' 26-yard line. Seven plays later, Keyes found Cam Wright from 12 yards out at the 6:51 mark to put EMCC on top, 28-20, ahead of halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Lions forced a three-and-out on defense and then went to work on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by Jaylen Jennings' 2-yard scoring run to increase EMCC's lead to 34-20 with 9:46 left in the quarter.

With the Lions limiting Jones to less than 100 yards of total offense during the second half, the Bobcats' only scoring following the half was Bart Edmiston Jr.'s 37-yard field goal at the 4:14 mark of the third quarter.

EMCC's defense then got into the scoring action late in the quarter when Martavis Blackmon forced a Smith fumble along the Jones sideline. Shannon Blair made the recovery and raced 66 yards for the touchdown to extend the Lions' lead to 40-23 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

The only scoring in the fourth quarter came at the 9:32 mark when EMCC's Jennings scored for the second time in the half on a 1-yard burst into the end zone to account for the final margin.  

Statistically, the Lions outgained Jones, 462-312, in total offense yards for the game, including a 342-188 yardage advantage through the air. Defensively for the evening, EMCC was credited with 14 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including nine quarterback sacks.

Individually, EMCC sophomore quarterback Ty Keyes completed 26-of-41 passes for 342 yards and four touchdowns. Moore finished the night as the Lions' top receiver with six catches for 90 yards and a score. Sophomore running back Kiron Benjamin was EMCC's leading rusher for the second straight week with 45 yards on the ground in 11 attempts.

The 1-1 EMCC Lions will continue their current three-game home stand through the month of September by first kicking off MACCC North Division play on Thursday (Sept. 21) against the Holmes Bulldogs. The following week, East Mississippi will play host to the Bulldogs of Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sept. 28. Both upcoming home contests are slated for 7 p.m. kickoffs at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.