EMCC’s Ty Keyes earns third MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season
For the third time this season, East Mississippi Community College quarterback Ty Keyes has received MACCC Offensive Player of the Week recognition. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office.
JACKSON – For the third time this season, East Mississippi Community College quarterback Ty Keyes has received MACCC Offensive Player of the Week recognition. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office.
Having previously earned consecutive weekly conference honors following EMCC's September home victories over Jones College and Holmes, Keyes collected his most recent MACCC accolade after accounting for 326 yards of total offense and three touchdowns to help lead the now-No. 9 Lions to this past Saturday's 38-31 Homecoming win over then-No. 15 Northeast Mississippi. In addition to completing 25-of-39 (64%) passes for 275 yards and one touchdown through the air, the Southern Miss bounceback also rushed for 51 yards and two scores, including an 18-yard TD run, on eight carries against the Tigers.
For the season, Keyes continues to lead all NJCAA Division I quarterbacks by averaging 294.6 passing yards per game along with 21 touchdowns through the air. The former two-time Mississippi Gatorade Football Player of the Year at Taylorsville High School is also currently ranked fourth nationally by having completed 62.0 percent of his passes (158-of-255 for 2,062 yards) on the year.
Earlier this season, Keyes claimed back-to-back MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honors after consecutive home wins over Jones (47-23 on Sept. 14) and Holmes (65-17 on Sept. 21). During Week 2 against then-No. 4 Jones, Keyes additionally collected NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week recognition after completing 26-of-41 passes for 342 yards and four touchdowns against the Bobcats. His four touchdown passes all came during the first half and were all caught by different receivers. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound signal-caller also picked up 44 rushing yards on six attempts to account for 386 yards of total offense.
Keyes then repeated as the MACCC's offensive honoree the following week by throwing for 472 yards and six touchdowns on 27-of-35 (77%) passing in leading the Lions to a commanding 48-point triumph over Holmes. While registering the seventh-highest, single-game passing yardage total during the Buddy Stephens coaching era (since 2008), Keyes connected on scoring tosses of 75, 49, 40, 24, 20, and 16 yards. He also picked up 24 rushing yards on two attempts to give him 496 yards of total offense against the Bulldogs.
Keyes along with MACCC Defensive Player of the Week recipient Zech Pratt (Itawamba) and MACCC Special Teams Player of the Week selectee Guy Gillespie (Northeast Mississippi) are now all eligible for NJCAA Player of the Week consideration. National weekly honors will be announced on Wednesday (Oct. 25).
The ninth-ranked and reigning MACCC champion Lions (5-2, 4-0 MACCC North) will travel to Fulton to take on the Indians of Itawamba Community College (2-5, 1-3 MACCC North) on Thursday (Oct. 26). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at ICC's Eaton Field.