EMCC’s Stephens bids for career coaching win No. 100 as top-ranked Lions travel to Pearl River

SCOOBA – Fresh off their 50-0 season-opening home victory over preseason 13^th-ranked Hinds a week ago in Scooba, the reigning national champion and top-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College hit the road for the first time this football season by traveling to Poplarville to take on the Pearl River Community College Wildcats Thursday evening.  Kickoff at PRCC's Dobie Holden Stadium is set for 6 p.m.  As a break for fans having to deal with Tropical Storm Gordon this week, Pearl River school officials have announced there will be no charge for admission into Thursday's EMCC-PRCC contest.  

Winners of 75 of their last 80 contests dating back to their first of four national championship seasons (2011, '13, '14 & '17), the EMCC Lions successfully opened the current campaign with last Thursday's home shutout over Hinds.  The 50-0 whitewash of the Eagles marked the 21^st shutout posted by EMCC during the tenure of 11^th-year head coach Buddy Stephens.

Beginning his second decade as head football coach at East Mississippi, Stephens will bid for his 100^th career victory as a collegiate head coach when the Lions travel to Pearl River this week.  With a career head coaching record of 99-13, Stephens presently stands seventh nationally among the NJCAA's winningest active football coaches while currently ranking as the NJCAA's all-time leader in career winning percentage (.884) for coaches with at least 100 career games coached.  Prior to being hired as EMCC's head coach, Stephens spent the previous seven seasons (2001-07) as an assistant coach at Pearl River CC when the Wildcats posted a composite record of 60-12 (.833), including an NJCAA championship in 2004 and four consecutive MACJC state titles (2003-06).  He was also a two-year offensive lineman at PRCC before completing his collegiate playing career at Delta State.

Ranked as the NJCAA's No. 1 preseason football team for the fifth time in the last seven years, the EMCC Lions began defense of their fourth national championship in seven years with last week's home triumph over the Hinds Eagles.  Powered by Michigan State transfer quarterback Messiah deWeaver and Notre Dame transfer running back Deon McIntosh, the home-standing Lions jumped out to a 23-0 first-quarter lead en route to taking a commanding 43-0 halftime advantage.  While playing only the first half, deWeaver completed 25-of-38 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns (0 INTs) while connecting with a dozen different receivers.  His favorite target on the night was Kalem Reddix with a game-high seven receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns.  For his season-opening efforts, deWeaver earned MACJC Offensive Player of the Week honors in his junior college debut.  McIntosh carried the load for EMCC on the ground with 84 rushing yards and three scores in 15 attempts.

Defensively a week ago, the Lions limited Hinds to just 81 yards of total offense in the season opener, including negative yardage (-4 yds) on the ground.  In contrast, EMCC picked up 559 yards of total offense for the game, including 423 yards in the opening half alone before a running clock was utilized throughout the second half because of the MACJC's mandated 38-point mercy rule.

Guided by second-year head coach Ted Egger and coming off last year's 5-4 season, Pearl River dropped a season-opening 34-30 home decision to 14^th-ranked Itawamba after owning a 27-7 halftime advantage last Thursday in Poplarville.  Wildcat running back Ron Thompson picked up 197 rushing yards on 18 carries, including runs of 70 and 63 yards.

EMCC's Stephens owns a 4-1 career record versus Pearl River, though the two teams haven't met on the gridiron since 2013.  Following a 42-35 setback to the Wildcats in Scooba during the 2008 MACJC state semifinals, the Lions reeled off four straight victories over PRCC from 2010 to 2013.  Most recently in the inter-divisional series, EMCC opened the 2013 campaign (Aug. 29) with a 49-6 road triumph over the Wildcats.  The season-opening victory over PRCC in Poplarville marked the first of 25 consecutive wins for the Lions on their way to claiming back-to-back NJCAA national championships in 2013 and 2014.  EMCC also prevailed over Pearl River during the 2010 (42-36 in Scooba), 2011 (41-17 in Poplarville) and 2012 (35-15 in Scooba) seasons.    

Thursday's EMCC-PRCC 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.  EMCC's 2018 football radio broadcasts will also be carried live by SuperTalk Mississippi (WZKR-FM 103.3) out of Meridian as well as through 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 www.EMCCAthletics.com/live.  Alternate audio streams of the radio broadcasts are also available at www.wfca.fm.  Fans are also encouraged to follow EMCC Athletics through the college's athletics website, www.EMCCAthletics.com, and on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@EMCCAthletics) via the school's social media hub at www.EMCCAthletics.com/Social-Media-Hub.