Ty Keyes headlines fourth-ranked EMCC’s 21 selections to the 2023 All-MACCC Football Team

JACKSON – Headlined by MACCC All-North Division Offensive Player of the Year Ty Keyes, the two-time reigning conference champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College placed 21 players on the 2023 All-MACCC Football Team. Selected by a panel of the MACCC's head football coaches, the league's first-team, second-team and honorable mention selections were announced Monday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office.

Set to travel to Kansas to take on top-ranked Hutchinson Community College (10-0) in Saturday's (Dec. 2)  NJCAA Division I Football Playoffs after claiming their ninth conference championship in 15 years, the fourth-ranked EMCC Lions (9-2) had four first-team selections, 10 second-teamers and seven honorable mentions. Guided by MACCC North Division and NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year Buddy Stephens, EMCC's 2023 honorees were also split up among 11 offensive performers and 10 defensive players. In addition, East Mississippi's 21 all-conference selections were comprised of 10 bouncebacks from four-year universities, eight second-year EMCC lettermen and three true freshmen.

Keyes, a bounceback quarterback from Southern Miss, currently leads NJCAA Division I football with 29 touchdown passes and ranks second nationally with an average of 268.6 passing yards per game. The three-time MACCC Offensive Player of the Week recipient enters the national playoffs having completed 225-of-375 (60%) passes for 2,955 yards.

Keyes, a former two-time Mississippi Gatorade Football Player of the Year at Taylorsville High School, became the ninth EMCC signal-caller to earn first-team, all-league honors during the Stephens coaching era. Each of the previous eight all-conference field generals for the Lions, including former Ole Miss quarterbacks Chad Kelly, Bo Wallace and two-time recipient Randall Mackey, all went on to earn NJCAA All-America honors.

Along with Keyes, EMCC's quartet of first-team selections this year also included wide receiver Marcus Harris (Radcliff, KY), who also earned first-team return specialist honors, two-year starting right tackle Karsten Upchurch (Sturgis/Starkville HS), and former Tennessee preferred walk-on defensive back Shannon Blair (Knoxville, TN). Harris, a Kent State bounceback, is the Lions' third-leading receiver on the year with 38 catches for 387 yards and five touchdowns, while also having averaged 21.7 yards on a dozen kickoff returns. From his left cornerback position, Blair is tied for the team lead (w/Bakari McCall) with three pass interceptions, including a 98-yard pick-six vs. Holmes.

EMCC's collection of 10 second-team, all-division recipients is jointly headed by the Lions' leading rusher Kiron Benjamin (Laurel) and leading receiver Cam Wright (Batesville/South Panola HS) on the year. Benjamin has rushed for 569 yards and seven touchdowns, including a career-high 132 rushing yards and two scores during the Lions' 33-21 MACCC semifinals win over Mississippi Gulf Coast. Wright, a University of Memphis bounceback, presently ranks among the NJCAA Division I top 10 leaders in receptions (46), receiving yards (785), yards per reception (17.1), and touchdown catches (8).

Offensively, EMCC also had freshman center Braxton Goff (Petal) and freshman wide receiver Raymon Blackmon earn second-team honors. Out of Dothan, Alabama, Blackmon is the Lions' second-leading receiver on the year with 41 catches for 656 yards and five touchdowns. He earned MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honors after his pair of fourth-quarter touchdown receptions of 79 and 42 yards helped ignite the Lions to their 27-20 victory over Copiah-Lincoln in the MACCC Championship Game.

East Mississippi also featured a half dozen defensive players on the MACCC's second-team listing, including five two-year lettermen for the Lions. Along with Mississippi State commits Tyler Woodard (Memphis, TN) and Ashun Shepphard (Brandon) from their respective free safety and nose guard positions, EMCC was also represented by fellow sophomores Tyrane Stewart (Osyka/South Pike HS) at right cornerback, Marcus Ross (New Hebron/Jefferson Davis County HS) at "Will" linebacker, and Jalyn Durgan (Moss Point/St. Martin HS) at the "Bandit" position.

Tuscaloosa product Brylan Lanier, who previously spent time at the University of Alabama and Indiana University, rounds out EMCC's second-team recipients and enters the national playoffs with a team-leading 12.5 tackles for loss from his "Star" position.

Five of EMCC's seven honorable mention recipients are bounceback transfers, including the team's second-leading rusher Jaylen Jennings (Columbus, OH) as well as quarterback sacks leader Alvin Williams (Atlanta, GA). Jennings, from Bowling Green State University, has rushed for 549 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns, while Williams, a Colorado transfer, has accounted for 7.5 sacks from his defensive end position.  

Bouncing back from the four-year level within the Magnolia State, EMCC's fourth-leading receiver Jacobi Moore (Gulfport/Harrison Central HS) and reigning MACCC Defensive Player of the Week Tyrese Hopkins (Macon/Starkville HS) are also honorable mentions for the Lions. Moore has 23 catches for the Lions after dividing the past two years between Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Hopkins, who spent the past two seasons at Southern Miss, is EMCC's No. 3 tackler with 58 stops and has forced a team-most four fumbles on the year.

Rounding out East Mississippi's honorable mention choices are sophomore defensive end Colin Crowder (Chunky/Newton County HS) along with Texas A&M bounceback Chris Morris (Memphis, TN) and true freshman Roscoe Tucker (Meridian), who have occupied the left side of the Lions' offensive line this season.