Two-time reigning MACCC champion and preseason No. 2 EMCC to kick off 2024 at home vs. No. 10 Gulf Coast

SCOOBA – The two-time reigning MACCC champion and preseason second-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College will kick off the 2024 football season Thursday evening (Aug. 29) by playing host to the preseason 10^th-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs on the Scooba campus. Game time for Thursday's rematch of last year's MACCC Semifinals contest between EMCC and Gulf Coast is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field.

Thursday's top-10 matchup between the Lions and Bulldogs 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. Jay Perry is set to handle sideline reporting duties. 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. Along with EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts being available in HD at emcclive.com, alternate audio streams of the Lions' radio broadcasts throughout the football season will also be accessible via wfca.fm.

EMCC's 17^th-year head football coach Buddy Stephens owns a 12-4 career record against Gulf Coast (8-2 in Scooba & 4-2 in Perkinston), including a 7-1 postseason mark versus the Bulldogs that features conference title game wins over the Bulldogs during the 2009 (75-71) and 2011 (42-17) seasons in Scooba. Last year, the Lions avenged a 42-17 home setback to MGCCC (Sept. 28) by claiming a 33-21 home victory over the Bulldogs in the MACCC Semifinals (Nov. 11) on the way to capturing their ninth conference championship with a 27-20 home triumph over Copiah-Lincoln a week later in the MACCC title tilt. Two seasons ago, EMCC earned a pair of road wins over Gulf Coast 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, the Lions returned to Perkinston six weeks later (Nov. 5) to claim a 38-27 road win in the MACCC Semifinals.

With 30 returning lettermen, including seven offensive starters, from last year's reigning national championship runner-up team, the EMCC Lions have the luxury of welcoming back 2023 NJCAA Division I Football Offensive Player of the Year Ty Keyes. A former two-time Mississippi Gatorade Football Player of the Year selection while leading Taylorsville High School to three MHSAA Class 2A state championships, Keyes became EMCC's ninth NJCAA All-America quarterback during the Stephens coaching era after leading NJCAA Division I football with 3,350 passing yards and 33 touchdown tosses a season ago. The former Southern Miss bounce-back signal-caller completed 58.2 percent (263-of-452) of his passes for the 10-3 Lions last year en route to also earning 2023 NJCAA Region 23 Most Valuable Player and MACCC All-North Division Offensive Player of the Year accolades.

Along with Keyes running an offense that averaged 409.4 yards of total offense, 271.1 passing yards and 35.5 points per game last season under the guidance of offensive coordinator Cade Wilkerson, EMCC brings back All-MACCC Second Team wide receiver Raymon Blackmon (Dothan, AL) and fellow starting pass-catcher Jacobi Moore (Harrison Central HS). Blackmon was the Lions' second-leading receiver (5^th in MACCC) a year ago with 45 catches for 732 receiving yards (16.3 yds/rec) and six touchdowns, while Moore had 28 receptions to rank fourth on the team after having previously spent time at both Mississippi State and Ole Miss prior to going the junior college route.

Behind an experienced corps of returning offensive lettermen led by All-MACCC Second Team center Braxton Goff (Petal HS) and honorable mention all-conference guard Roscoe Tucker (Meridian HS), the Lions return their second-leading rusher from a year ago with former Bowling Green bounce-back Jaylen Jennings. The Columbus, Ohio native ran for 656 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns on the ground for EMCC last season to rank seventh and tied for third in the MACCC, respectively.

Looking to stand out among another talent-laden recruiting class on the offensive side of the football for the Lions figure to be wide receiver Michael Johnson Jr., by way of South Panola High School, and running back Gavin Griffin from Velma Jackson High School. A year ago as prep standout seniors, Johnson was named the Class 6A Overall Player of the Year and Griffin was tabbed the Class 1A Offensive Player of the Year.

With 14 returning defensive lettermen to go along with the team's 16 returning offensive performers, East Mississippi's retooled defensive squad will feature former University of South Carolina defensive line commit Zavion Hardy (Macon, GA) and University of Arkansas defensive back commit Shannon Blair Jr. (Knoxville, TN). Blair led EMCC with four pass interceptions for 102 total return yards, including a pick-six, and also had a 66-yard fumble recovery for a defensive touchdown. A four-star defensive end out of the Georgia prep ranks who has been offered by several SEC schools, Hardy will be joined on the Lions' formidable defensive line by fellow out-of-state returner Rashod Bradley from Lake City, Florida.

Under the direction of defensive coordinator Kevie Thompson, the Lions' reconstructed defensive unit picked up some bounce-back players who should all contend for significant playing time this fall. Leading the group of expected immediate contributors is former four-star defensive back Tony Mitchell, who spent last season at the University of Alabama after ranking among the state's top five senior prospects and helping lead Thompson High School to four consecutive Alabama Class 7A state championships.

Along with welcoming aboard additional four-year transfer defensive backs Dylan King (Tennessee State University/Oakland HS/Nashville, TN) and Devin Clark (University of Virginia/Marietta HS/Atlanta, GA), EMCC should also benefit greatly from the arrival of anticipated impact linebacker Tymere Burton, who redshirted last year for the Charlotte 49ers. Two seasons ago, the Georgia native garnered first-team, all-region prep honors at Class 6A South Gwinnett High School.

With a 16-year head coaching record of 143-24 (.856) with the Lions, EMCC's Stephens will enter the upcoming 2024 football season ranked second on the NJCAA's all-time list for career winning percentage among coaches with 100 or more career games coached. Along with ranking tied for third among the NJCAA's winningest active head football coaches, Stephens is currently tied for 23^rd on the NJCAA's all-time wins list and is fifth in Mississippi junior college football history. In addition to the Lions' nine conference titles (2009, '11, '13-14, '16-18 & '22-23) in the last 15 years, Stephens' EMCC football teams have also claimed five national championships (2011, '13-14 & '17-18), along with last year's national championship runner-up finish, as well as 11 division crowns (2008-09, '11-16, '18, '21 & '23) dating back to the 2008 season.

Following Thursday's season opener and conference semifinals rematch against Mississippi Gulf Coast, EMCC's 2024 gridiron slate also features home MACCC North Division contests versus Itawamba (Sept. 19), Coahoma (Sept. 28 – Homecoming) and Mississippi Delta (Oct. 24). Along with interdivisional road meetings with MACCC South Division foes Hinds (Sept. 5) and Pearl River (Oct. 17), the Lions will also have road matchups within division play against Northwest Mississippi (Sept. 12), Northeast Mississippi (Oct. 10) and Holmes (Oct. 31). The 2024 MACCC football playoffs are slated for consecutive Saturdays on Nov. 9 (semifinals) and Nov. 16 (championship game).