No. 9 EMCC Lions set to close out regular-season road slate Thursday at Itawamba

SCOOBA – The reigning EMCC champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College will hit the road for the final time this regular season by traveling to Fulton to meet Itawamba during Thursday's MACCC North Division gridiron action. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at ICC's Eaton Field.

Entering Thursday's game at Itawamba with a 5-2 overall record and 4-0 division mark, including October victories over Northwest Mississippi (35-17), Coahoma (56-0) and Northeast Mississippi (38-31), the ninth-ranked EMCC Lions moved back into the top 10 of the NJCAA's Division I football poll after claiming a 38-31 Homecoming win over then-No. 15 this past Saturday in Scooba. The Lions can secure at least a share of their 11^th division championship during the Buddy Stephens coaching era (since 2008) with a road win over Itawamba. Division foes Northeast and Northwest – both now 3-1 in division play with losses to EMCC – will face each other during the final week of the regular season in Senatobia. EMCC will play host to Mississippi Delta to close out regular-season play one week from Saturday (Nov. 2).

Having averaged 43 points per game during their current three-game winning streak, the Lions presently rank second among NJCAA Division I teams in passing offense (314.4 yds/gm) and are tied for first nationally with 21 passing touchdowns on the year. EMCC is also ranked fifth among Division I teams in scoring average (39.7 pts/gm) as well as total offense (449.9 yds/gm).

East Mississippi's potent offensive attack continues to be engineered by sophomore quarterback Ty Keyes, who picked up his third MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honor this season after accounting for 326 yards of total offense and three touchdowns during the Lions' Homecoming win over Northeast this past Saturday in Scooba. The Southern Miss bounceback completed 25-of-39 (64%) passes for 275 yards and one touchdown through the air while also having rushed for 51 yards and two scores against the Tigers. Having also previously earned consecutive weekly conference accolades following EMCC's September home victories over Jones and Holmes, Keyes leads all NJCAA Division I quarterbacks by averaging 294.6 passing yards per game along with 21 touchdowns through the air. The former two-time Mississippi Gatorade Football Player of the Year at Taylorsville High School is also currently ranked fourth nationally by having completed 62.0 percent of his passes (158-of-255 for 2,062 yards) on the year.

Memphis transfer Cam Wright leads seven double-digit receivers on the season for the Lions with 35 catches for 583 total yards (16.7 rpg) and a team-high six touchdown receptions. On the ground, EMCC's running back tandem of Jaylen Jennings (313 yds & 6 TDs) and Kiron Benjamin (281 yds & 3 TDs) has combined for nearly 600 rushing yards and nine touchdowns for the year.

Defensively as a team, East Mississippi has totaled 56 tackles behind the line of scrimmage this season, including 30 quarterback sacks. In addition, Lion defensive backs Bakari McCall (3-168), Shannon Blair (2-102) and Tyrane Stewart (2-0) have combined for seven pass interceptions for 270 total return yards, including a pair of pick-sixes by McCall and the other by Blair.

EMCC head football coach Buddy Stephens, now in his 16^th year as head coach of the Lions, owns a career overall record of 138-23 (85.7%), including an 80-8 (90.9%) career mark in MACCC North Division contests. He owns a 13-1 career record against Itawamba (6-0 in Scooba, 6-1 in Fulton & 1-0 in West Point), which includes a current nine-game series win streak against the Indians. A year ago in Scooba (Oct. 22), the Lions broke open a tight contest with 21 fourth-quarter points to close out their 2022 regular-season home slate with a 38-10 Homecoming victory over visiting ICC.

Guided by first-year head football coach Travis Macon, Itawamba is 2-5 overall, 1-3 in MACCC North Division play, with the pair of wins coming over the past three weeks. A week ago, the Indians claimed a 26-14 road win over Hinds in Raymond after beginning the month of October with a 29-0 Homecoming shutout victory over Mississippi Delta.  

Thursday's EMCC-ICC contest will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Glen Beard slated to provide the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively. The game's live-streamed audio will also be carried by 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 emcclive.com. Alternate audio streams of the radio broadcasts are also available at wfca.fm.