No. 10 EMCC Lions look to bounce back with Thursday’s road opener at Hinds

SCOOBA – Looking to bounce back from last week's season-opening home setback to now-No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast, the 10^th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College will hit the road for the first time this season by taking on the Hinds Eagles during Thursday's interdivisional gridiron matchup to be played in Raymond. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Gene Murphy Field at Joe Renfroe Stadium.   

During EMCC's 34-28 season-opening loss to Gulf Coast last week, the two teams matched touchdowns and subsequent PAT kicks through the first three quarters before the visiting Bulldogs scored the game's last two touchdowns to pull out the six-point road victory. The setback marked just the sixth home loss (in 66 games played) for the Lions since Sullivan-Windham Field was relocated to its current site in 2011.      

EMCC's statistical leaders during last week's season opener included reigning NJCAA Division I Offensive Player of the Year Ty Keyes, who completed 23-of-38 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception. His top two targets against Gulf Coast were sophomores Brendan Brown (7 rec, 91 yds & 1 TD) and Jaylon York (6-82-1), who combined for 13 catches for 173 receiving yards between them, including a scoring grab apiece. Sophomore Jaylen Jennings was the Lions' leading rusher in the opener by matching his collegiate career high with 104 yards on the ground in 23 carries. Defensively for EMCC, sophomore defensive back Shannon Blair Jr. was credited with 10 total tackles, including a 3-yard tackle for loss, along with three pass breakups.   

While absorbing just their 25^th overall defeat (in 168 total games played) in 15-plus seasons of competition under head coach Buddy Stephens' guidance, the Lions will be looking to improve upon their 14-4 bounce-back record in contests played following in-season losses dating back to 2008. A year ago, the Lions dropped their season opener, 23-20, at Copiah-Lincoln and then fell at home to Gulf Coast, 42-17, three weeks later before regrouping to win their last five regular-season contests on the way to claiming their ninth conference championship and finishing as 2023 national runners-up.

Guided by eighth-year head football coach Larry Williams, the Hinds Eagles are also bidding for their first win of the young season after dropping a 10-7 home decision to Itawamba last week. Williams, who spent the 2010 season as EMCC's defensive line coach, previously served as Hinds' defensive coordinator for seven years (2003-09) before returning to the Eagles' coaching staff in 2013. This year's Hinds football staff also includes former EMCC assistant football coaches William Jones and TD Grays.

Stephens owns a 5-3 head coaching career record (2-1 in Raymond & 3-2 in Scooba) against Hinds through the years, with EMCC's last two decisions against the Eagles having resulted in losses for the top-ranked Lions at the time the games were contested. Most recently (Nov. 6, 2021 in Scooba), visiting 10^th-ranked Hinds ended EMCC's 2021 season (following an unbeaten regular season) by claiming a 42-41 overtime decision in the conference playoff semifinals after the Lions' two-point conversion pass attempt was intercepted on the game's final play. During their most recent visit to Raymond (Aug. 29, 2019), the preseason No. 1-ranked and two-time reigning NJCAA Champion EMCC Lions had their 17-game winning streak snapped at Hinds by falling, 24-16, to the Eagles in the 2019 season opener. East Mississippi's other two football visits to Raymond during the Stephens era produced victories for the Lions during their national championship seasons of 2017 (51-41) and 2011 (20-17).

Thursday's EMCC-Hinds 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. Along with EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts being available in HD at emcclive.com, alternate audio streams of the Lions' radio broadcasts throughout the football season will also be accessible via wfca.fm.