No. 9 EMCC Lions clinch 11th division title of Stephens era with 31-17 victory at Itawamba
The ninth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College clinched their 11th MACCC North Division football title of the Buddy Stephens coaching era by claiming a 31-17 road win over Itawamba during Thursday’s conference action played at ICC’s Eaton Field.
FULTON – The ninth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College clinched their 11th MACCC North Division football title of the Buddy Stephens coaching era by claiming a 31-17 road win over Itawamba during Thursday's conference action played at ICC's Eaton Field.
With Thursday's 14-point victory in their 2023 regular-season road finale, the Lions (6-2, 5-0 in MACCC North) will now look to complete their 10th unbeaten division slate since the 2008 season when they play host to the Trojans of Mississippi Delta on Thursday (Nov. 2). Kickoff time for the EMCC-MDCC contest is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.
East Mississippi has already secured the MACCC North Division's No. 1 seed along with the opportunity to host this year's conference playoffs (Nov. 11 & 18) by virtue of regular-season wins over both Northwest Mississippi and Northeast Mississippi this year. The Rangers and Tigers, both 6-2 overall and 4-1 in division play, will close out the regular season Thursday (Nov. 2) in Senatobia to decide the MACCC North's No. 2 seed for the upcoming playoffs.
Thursday's EMCC-ICC matchup in Fulton was a defensive struggle for the opening 13 minutes of play. After the visitors couldn't take advantage of an Itawamba fumble recovered by EMCC's Colin Crowder that ultimately resulted in a second straight failed fourth-down opportunity, the Lions got going in a hurry with a pair of touchdowns within a 19-second span late in the quarter. Aided by a pass interference penalty called on the Indians, EMCC marched 78 yards during an eight-play drive that was capped by Ty Keyes' 22-yard scoring pass to Ty Crowell at the 1:46 mark. The Lions struck again following the ensuing kickoff when CJ Willis forced a fumble that was recovered by Devin Arrington. On the next play from scrimmage, Keyes' 27-yard touchdown toss to Cam Wright quickly made it a 14-0 contest heading into the second quarter.
Slowed by five combined punts between the two teams in the period, the second-quarter scoring consisted only of Keyes being tackled in the end zone by ICC's Jayden Walker for a safety midway through the quarter and Cole Arthur's 32-yard field goal with 16 seconds left to give EMCC a 17-2 advantage at the half.
EMCC's outstanding first-half defense continued throughout the rest of the half, as the Lions' stopper unit limited Itawamba to just 66 yards of total offense on 33 plays and allowed only three first downs during the opening 30 minutes of play. Individually in the second quarter, EMCC's Shannon Blair picked off his third pass interception of the year to tie Bakari McCall for the team lead. Michael Smith also recovered an ICC fumble during the quarter.
Following intermission, the third quarter also began as a defensive stalemate. Through the opening seven minutes of the second half, EMCC forced the Indians into three-and-outs on two of their first three offensive possessions. To counter that, ICC picked off Keyes during back-to-back EMCC possessions with pass interceptions by EJ Wadley and Zech Pratt.
On the heels of Itawamba's third consecutive punt of the quarter, EMCC put together an eight-play, 67-yard drive that was capped by Keyes' 24-yard scoring aerial to Marcus Harris. Arthur's successful PAT gave the Lions their largest lead (24-2) of the game with 5:12 remaining in the quarter.
The Indians answered with their own eight-play scoring drive that went 73 yards late in the quarter for their first touchdown of the evening. Tylan Carter's 3-yard keeper into the end zone was followed by Charleston French's two-point conversion rush at the 1:28 mark to cut ICC's deficit to 24-10 entering the fourth quarter of play.
Defense again dominated during the opening nine minutes of the final quarter, as the two teams combined to punt five more times before exchanging touchdowns over the game's final minute. The Lions primarily stayed on the ground with seven rushing plays during their eight-play, 45-yard scoring drive that used up nearly five minutes of the game clock. Kiron Benjamin's 25-yard touchdown run at the 1:03 mark was answered by Carter's 52-yard scoring strike to Jermaine Strong with 15 seconds left in the game to account for the 31-17 outcome.
Statistically on the night, the visiting Lions nearly doubled Itawamba in both total offense yards (410-206) and first downs (21-11), while Stephens improved his career record versus Itawamba to 14-1, including 10 consecutive series wins over the Indians.
Following his third MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season the week prior, Keyes threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-47 passing against Itawamba. The Southern Miss bounceback completed passes to 11 different receivers, with Wright, Harris and Jacobi Moore leading the way with four catches each for the Lions.
Benjamin was East Mississippi's leading rusher in the contest with 63 yards on the ground, including his 25-yard score, in 13 attempts.
