No. 7 EMCC dominates Holmes 65-17; Lions set sights on Thursday’s key Gulf Coast matchup

SCOOBA – In producing their highest point total since the team's 2017 national championship season, the reigning conference champion East Mississippi Community College Lions kicked off MACCC North Division play with Thursday's decisive 65-17 home triumph over Holmes played at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field.

Highlighted by six touchdown passes thrown by reigning NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week Ty Keyes as well as pick-sixes by defensive backs Shannon Blair and Bakari McCall, the seventh-ranked EMCC Lions enjoyed their highest single-game scoring output since claiming the 2017 conference championship with a 67-66 double-overtime road triumph over Northwest Mississippi in Senatobia. The Lions also knocked off Coahoma, 72-7, during EMCC's 2017 Homecoming Game.

Thursday's EMCC-Holmes matchup featured a 37-point first quarter between the two teams, as the Lions scored on their first four offensive possessions. After the visitors opened the game's scoring on Deion Smith's 19-yard touchdown reception from Lonnie Ratliff IV at the 12:21 mark, EMCC responded with three touchdowns within a six-minute span to take a 20-7 lead with five minutes left in the opening quarter.

EMCC's first of 10 touchdowns scored on the night came on Keyes' 24-yard scoring strike to Jacobi Moore at the 10:53 mark. Following a Holmes three-and-out, the Lions scored on the ground with Raymon Blackmon's 3-yard rush to make it 13-7 with 8:38 left in the quarter.

East Mississippi's defense got into the scoring action on Holmes' subsequent 10-play, 63-yard drive that was halted by Blair's 98-yard interception for a touchdown at the 4:59 mark of the quarter. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee and a former preferred walk-on for the Vols, Blair's pick-six came on the heels of his 66-yard fumble recovery for a score during the Lions' 47-23 home win over then-No. 4 Jones College a week ago.

After Holmes briefly cut the deficit to 20-10 on Jalen Ballard's 22-yard field goal at the 1:51 mark, the Lions capped the high-scoring first quarter with Keyes' 75-yard touchdown toss to Cam Wright on a third-and-10 play to extend their lead to 27-10 heading into the second quarter.

The second 15 minutes of play featured two more throwing touchdowns by Keyes – a 20-yarder to Ty Crowell at the 12:06 mark and a 16-yarder to Wright with 36 seconds left in the half – that bookended a Holmes 44-yard scoring pass play from Ratliff to Smith at the 5:12 mark. As a result, the Lions lengthened their lead to 39-17 heading into intermission.

The Lions' offensive explosion continued following the break with three more touchdowns in the third quarter and another pick-six that went the length of the field for a score. Kiron Benjamin's 1-yard touchdown burst at the 4:26 mark was sandwiched between season-first catches by Kanarius Johnson and Brendan Brown that both resulted in scores from Keyes. Johnson's 49-yard scoring grab at the 12:01 mark preceded a 40-yard touchdown toss to Brown that stretched EMCC's lead to 59-17 to reach the MACCC's mandated 38-point mercy rule margin heading into the fourth quarter.

While playing with a running clock, the only scoring during the final 15 minutes of action featured McCall's interception of a NyJal Johnson pass that ended a 12-play drive on a fourth-and-goal play at the goal line.

The 48-point EMCC victory featured nearly 1,000 yards of total offense and 48 combined first downs between the two teams, including a 200-yard advantage (472-272) for the Lions through the air. In addition to owning a 574-415 upper hand in total offense yardage, EMCC was 8 of 11 on third-down conversions while holding Holmes to only 3 of 15 on third downs for the game.

Individually for the winners, Keyes' 472 yards on 27-of-35 passing marked the seventh most passing yards recorded by an EMCC quarterback during the Buddy Stephens' era (since 2008). The Southern Miss transfer signal-caller and former two-time Mississippi Gatorade Football Player of the Year at Taylorsville High School also ran for a team-high 24 yards on just two attempts against Holmes.

Wright, a Memphis transfer via South Panola High School, was Keyes' top target on the evening with eight receptions for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Blackmon and Marcus Harris followed with five and four catches for 60 and 73 yards, respectively.

The 2-1 EMCC Lions will close out their current three-game home stand with a potential top-five matchup against MACCC South Division foe Mississippi Gulf Coast on Thursday (Sept. 28). Kickoff for the much-anticipated EMCC-MGCCC showdown is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus. Thursday's contest will also feature the recognition of the five newest members of EMCC's Sports Hall of Fame – Lew Cornelius (football/1959-61), Jaquez Johnson (football/2011-12), Courtney Nunn (softball/2008-10), Dale Peay (women's basketball coach and men's golf coach/1985-2015), and Rusty Sanchez (baseball/1985-86). Along with being honored during halftime festivities of Thursday's game against Gulf Coast, EMCC's Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023 will be the College's special guests during a 4 p.m. pre-game reception to be held at the F.R. Young Student Union Center in Scooba.