East Mississippi to again be well represented during upcoming college football bowl season

SCOOBA – With another exciting college football bowl season set to kick off this weekend, the three-time NJCAA Champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College look to be represented in a dozen different postseason contests by as many as 21 former EMCC gridiron standouts.

Leading the way for EMCC postseason representation during the upcoming 42-game bowl slate over the next three weeks will be the 12^th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels, who currently feature five former EMCC Lions on their roster.  Headlined by Manning Award finalist and second-team All-SEC quarterback Chad Kelly, who directed the 2014 East Mississippi squad to the school's third national championship in four years as an NJCAA All-American, Ole Miss will take on No. 16 Oklahoma State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).  In addition to wide receiver Brandon Bell (Heritage Academy) and center Jacob Feeley (Picayune) having seen reserve duty for the Rebels this season, the Ole Miss defense has received valuable contributions from senior linebacker Christian Russell and junior defensive lineman D.J. Jones, who have combined for 68 total tackles between them on the year.

On New Year's Eve, EMCC will be represented in both games of the College Football Playoff Semifinals.  In the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against No. 3 Michigan State (7 p.m. CT, ESPN), former Lion standouts Jarran Reed and D.J. Pettway will be on display for second-ranked Alabama's formidable defensive line, which leads the nation in rushing defense while ranking second nationally in total defense and third in scoring defense.  Prior to that in the Capital One Orange Bowl (3 p.m. CT, ESPN), former NJCAA All-America offensive lineman Jamal Danley (Byhalia HS) and 2013 EMCC teammate Austin Roberts will suit up for No. 4 Oklahoma against top-ranked Clemson for a chance to play for the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship, Jan. 11, in Glendale, Arizona (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).

For the second straight season and the fourth time in the last five years, East Mississippi will bid to have a former player compete for a national championship at the next level.  A season ago, former EMCC wide receiver Corey Smith helped Ohio State claim the 2014 College Football Playoff National Championship.  This year, the fifth-year senior unfortunately sustained a season-ending leg injury and will not be able to play for the seventh-ranked Buckeyes during their New Year's Day contest versus No. 8 Notre Dame in the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl (noon CT, ESPN).  Prior to last year, 2010 EMCC All-America defensive lineman Quinton Dial was a member of back-to-back (2011 & 2012) BCS National Championship teams with the Alabama Crimson Tide and is now a third-year player with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.

East Mississippi's representation during the upcoming postseason bowl slate will begin this Saturday (Dec. 19) in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl (11 a.m. CT, ABC) from Atlanta's Georgia Dome, where SWAC Champion Alcorn State will battle North Carolina A&T.  Former Lion long snapper Evan Grimes (Florence) and Noxubee County native Antonio Wells are members of the ASU Braves.

The lone matchup of this year's postseason bowl schedule featuring former East Mississippi players going head-to-head on the gridiron will be Saturday's R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (8 p.m. CT, ESPN) pitting Arkansas State against Louisiana Tech.  From EMCC's back-to-back (2013 & 2014) NJCAA Championship teams, defensive back Allen "Bo" Sentimore (Laurel) and kicker/punter Drew White (Tupelo) compete for the Arkansas State Red Wolves, while 2013 Lion letterman David Mahaffey (Brandon) has been a 12-game starter on Louisiana Tech's offensive line after moving from left guard to center early in the season.  Sentimore, who led the NJCAA with 16 total pass interceptions during his two EMCC campaigns, was off to a great start this season for Arkansas State before getting injured.

Along with Sentimore and Ohio State's Smith, other former EMCC Lions who are not expected to play this bowl season due to injury are Georgia State wide receiver Kam Myers (Charleston), Indiana's Camion Patrick and versatile athlete Todd Mays (Olive Branch), who began the season at Oklahoma State.

In other pre-Christmas bowl action, former EMCC lineman Maurice Bennett (Madison Central HS) will accompany Conference USA Champion Western Kentucky against South Florida during Monday's (Dec. 21) Miami Beach Bowl (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).

The day after Christmas, East Mississippi will be represented by the Southern Miss tandem of defensive back Deshadrick Truly (Charleston) and offensive lineman Willie Swift (West Point), as the Golden Eagles take on Washington in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).  Also that day, Columbus High School product and former EMCC defensive back Byerson Cockrell, a 2015 Academic All-Big Ten selection for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, will close out his successful collegiate career in the Foster Farms Bowl (8:15 p.m. CT, ESPN) against the UCLA Bruins.

Starkville native Martavius Foster, a senior starter on the defensive line at Colorado State, will also conclude his college football career this month (Dec. 29), as the Rams face Nevada in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl (6:30 p.m. CT, Campus Insiders). 

As one of 10 former EMCC Lions to have competed for SEC schools this past season, Texas A&M offensive lineman Avery Gennesy (Southaven) will participate in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl, Dec. 30, against Louisville in Nashville (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).  That same day, former Lion defensive lineman DeMarco Montgomery, of the University of Memphis Tigers, will compete against the Tigers of Auburn University in the Birmingham Bowl (11 a.m. CT, ESPN).    

Also ringing in the New Year as one of six former NJCAA All-Americans representing head coach Buddy Stephens' East Mississippi Lions during the upcoming bowl season, linebacker Lorenzo Phillips will be in action New Year's Eve for the No. 9 Florida State Seminoles against the 18^th-ranked Houston Cougars in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (11 a.m. CT, ESPN).