No. 8 EMCC Lions set to begin MACCC title defense by playing host to Gulf Coast in playoff semifinals

SCOOBA – Set to make their 14^th conference playoff appearance in the past 16 years under head football coach Buddy Stephens' direction, the reigning MACCC champion and current eighth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College will begin defense of their eighth conference championship by playing host to No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast during Saturday's MACCC Semifinals. Kickoff for Saturday's top-10 rematch is set for 2 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.

Saturday's other MACCC football playoff game has nationally fourth-ranked and MACCC South Division top seed Copiah-Lincoln playing host to No. 10 and MACCC North Division runner-up Northwest Mississippi in Wesson. The two winners from Saturday's MACCC Semifinals will meet for the 2023 MACCC Football Championship on Saturday, Nov. 18, at a site to be determined by this week's playoff results.

On the heels of capping off their 11^th MACCC North Division football title with their 10^th unbeaten division slate since the 2008 season, the 2023 EMCC Lions enter postseason play with a 7-2 overall record and riding a current five-game winning streak. Since dropping a 42-17 home decision to then-No. 4 Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sept. 28, East Mississippi has reeled off consecutive victories over Northwest (35-17), Coahoma (56-0), Northeast (38-31), Itawamba (31-17), and Mississippi Delta (52-6).  

As the Lions and Bulldogs prepare to go head-to-head in the conference semifinals for the sixth time in the last 11 years, both teams currently rank among the top three scoring teams in NJCAA Division I football. Trailing only Kilgore College (41.9 ppg) nationally, Gulf Coast (40.3 ppg) and East Mississippi (40.1 ppg) rate second and third, respectively, among the NJCAA's team scoring leaders. With MGCCC ranking as the top rushing team in NJCAA Division I (248.6 yds/gm) and EMCC rating second nationally in passing yards per game (301.6 yds/gm), the Bulldogs and Lions also both stand among the top-10 team leaders in total offense yards at second (462.8 yds/gm) and seventh (437.8 yds/gm), respectively.

Individually among NJCAA Division I statistical leaders, EMCC's three-time MACCC Offensive Player of the Week Ty Keyes, a Southern Miss bounceback from Taylorsville, continues to lead the nation in passing yards per game (282.2 yds/gm) and with 27 touchdown passes. Gulf Coast quarterback Eli Anderson, an EMCC transfer out of Neshoba Central High School, ranks 10^th (195.6 yds/gm) and seventh (18 TDs), respectively, in those two categories. In addition, Keyes and Anderson are rated fifth (60.2%) and seventh (59.7%), respectively, among national pass completion percentage leaders.

EMCC head football coach Buddy Stephens, now in his 16^th year as head coach of the Lions, owns a career overall record of 140-23 (85.9%), including a 16-5 (76.2%) composite conference playoff record (8-5 in semifinals & 8-0 in championship games). He has posted an 11-4 career record against Mississippi Gulf Coast (7-2 in Scooba & 4-2 in Perkinston). Earlier this year, Stephens' EMCC squad fell, 42-17, in Scooba back on Sept. 28, while a year ago the Lions earned a pair of road wins over the Bulldogs at A.L. May Memorial Stadium. After erasing a 24-point deficit midway through the third quarter of their 2022 regular-season meeting (Sept. 22) to pull off a stunning 48-45 come-from-behind victory, EMCC returned to Perkinston six weeks later (Nov. 5) to claim a 38-27 road win in the MACCC Semifinals en route to capturing the program's eighth conference championship in 14 years a week later at Northwest Mississippi. Stephens' EMCC teams are 6-1 in playoff meetings against Mississippi Gulf Coast, including conference title game victories over the Bulldogs during the 2009 (75-71) and 2011 (42-17) seasons in Scooba.   

Guided by sixth-year head coach Jack Wright, sixth-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast enters the conference playoffs with an 8-1 overall record and 5-1 division mark as co-champions of the MACCC South Division along with top-seeded Copiah-Lincoln and Jones College. The Bulldogs won their first five games of the year before dropping a 28-23 home decision to Co-Lin on Oct. 12. MGCCC rebounded to close out the regular season with consecutive victories over East Central (28-24), Hinds (41-0), and Jones (23-0).

Saturday's EMCC-Gulf Coast top-10 rematch 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. 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.