No. 8 EMCC Lions travel to Northwest for Saturday’s storm-delayed MACCC North football opener

SCOOBA – Due to the continuing impacts of Hurricane Francine, eighth-ranked East Mississippi Community College's scheduled MACCC North Division football opener at Northwest Mississippi has been postponed two days to Saturday (Sept. 14). Kickoff for the adjusted playing date is set for 7 p.m. at Ranger Stadium at Bobby Franklin Field in Senatobia.

Saturday's EMCC-Northwest divisional lid-lifter will be live-streamed at nwccrangers.com/watch. Tickets are available at nwccrangers.com/tickets.

The Lions and Rangers both enter Week 3 with 1-1 overall records after bouncing back from season-opening home losses with non-division road victories a week ago. EMCC rebounded from a 34-28 home setback at the hands of now-No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast to claim a commanding 43-3 triumph at Hinds last Thursday. After falling from its No. 7 preseason perch in the national rankings following a 24-23 home loss to Pearl River, Northwest got into the win column a week ago with a 22-17 victory at East Central.   

In the Lions' bounce-back road victory over Hinds last week in Raymond, the reigning two-time MACCC champions outgained the Eagles, 403-88, in total offense yards and managed to run 24 more offensive plays (72-48) than the home team on the evening. EMCC's balanced offensive attack against Hinds featured 210 rushing yards and 193 passing yards. Freshman running back Gavin Griffin, Mississippi's 2023 Class 1A Mr. Football out of Velma Jackson High School, rushed for 101 yards and a score on 11 carries while also adding a touchdown reception. Through the air, reigning NJCAA Division I Offensive Player of the Year Ty Keyes, along with transfer quarterbacks Cole McCarty and Carter Hankins, combined on 20-of-33 passing with a pair of touchdowns. Nine different Lion players caught at least one pass in the victory, led by Jaylon York's five receptions for 33 yards.    

Head football coach Buddy Stephens, now in his 17^th year as head coach of the Lions, owns a 14-4 career record versus Northwest Mississippi dating back to his first season (2008) at the EMCC football helm, including conference championship wins over the Rangers two years ago as well as back-to-back during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Along with their 36-28 victory at Northwest during the 2022 MACCC championship contest, the Lions also prevailed over the Rangers, 38-30, in the 2016 conference title tilt played in Scooba and then came back the following year to earn a memorable 67-66 double-overtime road triumph over Northwest during the 2017 championship game played in Senatobia.

Set for their third consecutive road meeting with Northwest, Stephens' Lions are 9-1 against the Rangers in games played in Senatobia since 2008. EMCC's lone road loss to Northwest during the Stephens era came in 2017 when Northwest prevailed, 61-38, during the regular season prior to the Lions returning to Senatobia a month later and avenging the 23-point setback to repeat as conference champions. A year ago (Oct. 5, 2023) in a rematch of the 2022 MACCC championship game played in Senatobia, the visiting 13^th-ranked Lions claimed a 35-17 road victory over No. 10 Northwest to spark an eight-game winning streak that eventually led to a ninth conference championship for the program and a national runner-up finish.

Dating back to the 2008 football season with Stephens' arrival on the Scooba campus, EMCC and Northwest have combined to claim the last 16 MACCC North Division regular-season football championships between them. The Lions have won 11 of those division titles (2008-09, '11-16, '18, '21 & '23), while the Rangers have earned the other five MACCC North crowns (2010, '17, '19-20 & '22). Aided by the Lions' nine conference championships (2009, '11, '13-14, '16-18 & '22-23) since 2009 and five national titles (2011, '13-14 & '17-18) during an eight-year span, EMCC and Northwest have also combined to account for 12 MACCC football championships in the last 15 years along with six NJCAA titles over the last 13 seasons.