EMCC Lions look to bounce back by kicking off three-game home stand vs. No. 4 Jones Bobcats

SCOOBA – The 13^th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College will look to bounce back from last week's 23-20 season-opening road loss to Copiah-Lincoln by kicking off a three-game football home stand with Thursday's home contest against fourth-ranked Jones College. EMCC's home opener is slated for a 7 p.m. start at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.

Thursday's EMCC home football opener versus the Jones Bobcats 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. Anthony Craven is set to handle the sideline reporting duties. The game's live-streamed audio will also be carried 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 emcclive.com. Alternate audio streams of the radio broadcasts are also available at wfca.fm.

After being saddled with just their fourth season-opening football setback during the 16-year Buddy Stephens EMCC coaching era a week ago at Co-Lin, the Lions will seek to gain some momentum by finishing out the month of September with three consecutive home contests. Following Thursday's meeting with Jones, EMCC stays at home to play host to Holmes next Thursday (Sept. 21) before entertaining Mississippi Gulf Coast to close out the month on Sept. 28. East Mississippi will get to enjoy its first stretch of three consecutive regular-season home football games since the 2009 season. That year, the Lions hosted the same three schools consecutively in September en route to claiming their first of what has become eight conference (MACJC/MACCC) football championships during the past 14 seasons under Stephens' guidance.     

During last week's season-opening setback at Copiah-Lincoln, EMCC battled back from 10-0 first-quarter deficit to take a 14-10 halftime lead over the Wolves. The visiting Lions maintained a 20-13 advantage early in the fourth quarter, but Co-Lin responded with a game-tying touchdown and later kicked an eventual game-winning field goal with two minutes left in the contest to take the 23-20 home triumph at H.L. Stone Stadium.

Statistically for EMCC during last week's opener in Wesson, Southern Miss transfer quarterback Ty Keyes (Taylorsville) was 22-of-38 through the air for 252 passing yards and two touchdowns. His top target on the night was Memphis transfer receiver Cam Wright (South Panola HS) with five catches for 65 receiving yards. Sophomore running back Kiron Benjamin (Laurel) was the Lions' leading rusher with 39 yards and one touchdown in 10 attempts on the ground.      

Guided by eighth-year head coach Steve Buckley, fourth-ranked Jones College grinded out a 27-13 road victory over Itawamba during last week's season opener played at Eaton Field in Fulton. The Bobcats are coming off back-to-back 8-2 seasons after starting off 8-0 last year and 7-0 in 2021.

EMCC's Stephens owns an 8-3 career coaching record against Jones College, including an unblemished 5-0 mark in games contested in Scooba. Half of EMCC's eight wins over the Bobcats dating back to the 2008 season have come during conference playoff action, highlighted by state championship game victories over Jones during the 2018 (19-14 in Ellisville) and 2013 (61-24 in Scooba) seasons. Following a three-year series hiatus (2019-21), EMCC and Jones met on the gridiron a year ago (Sept. 8, 2022) in Ellisville as top 10 foes. The visiting fifth-ranked Lions couldn't fully recover from a 22-point halftime deficit (29-7) last season before dropping a 42-28 road decision to the ninth-ranked Bobcats at JC's Sim Cooley Field. 

East Mississippi's other home triumphs over Jones College during the Stephens era have come during the 2017 (47-34), 2014 (55-0 during Homecoming), and 2009 (28-17 during regular season & 26-16 in state semifinals) seasons. Prior to last year's win over EMCC, the Bobcats' previous pair of victories over the Lions since 2008 also took place in Ellisville during the 2016 (27-25) and 2008 (23-19 in Stephens' first loss as EMCC's head coach) campaigns.