Time runs out on Lady Eagles in loss
For Starkville Daily News
SCOOBA – New No. 1-ranked and reigning state champion East Mississippi Community College returns home to play host to Itawamba Community College during today's MACJC North Division action on the Scooba campus.
Kickoff for EMCC's home division football opener is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field.
Taking advantage of previously top-ranked Arizona Western College's open week, the 3-0 EMCC Lions edged the Matadors by a single vote (137-136) and grabbed five of the nine first-place votes to flop spots at the top of the national rankings. This marks the seventh consecutive year that East Mississippi has been No. 1 in the NJCAA football rankings at some point during the season. Most recently, the Lions were rated No. 1 nationally in the 2015 and 2016 preseason polls after sitting atop the rankings for most of the 2014 campaign on the way to capturing their third national championship in four years.
Following season-opening home wins over MACJC South Division powers Jones County (47-34) and Mississippi Gulf Coast (49-10), the 2017 Lions opened division play in dominating fashion by blanking Northeast Mississippi 59-0 on the road last Thursday to improve their overall winning streak to 14 consecutive games and extend their division win string to 25 straight contests dating back to the 2013 season. A week ago in Booneville, East Mississippi out-gained Northeast 37491 in total offense yards and 23-4 in first downs.
As 10th-year head coach Buddy Stephens picked up his 90th career victory during last week's shutout at Northeast, the Lions were well-balanced offensively with 186 rushing yards and 188 yards through the air. Sophomore running back Tyrell Price ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries to again lead the way for EMCC on the ground. His seven total rushing touchdowns on the year are currently tied for the NJCAA lead. In the passing game, LSU transfer quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. was 19-of-26 for 174 yards in a little more than one half of play last Thursday. For the night in Booneville, 11 different EMCC receivers caught passes from Scott and backup signal caller Ti'Morrius Conner.
Defensively a week ago, the Lions limited Northeast to just 40 yards rushing and 51 yards passing for the game while allowing only four total first downs. The dominating defensive effort marked EMCC's 20th shutout win during the Stephens coaching era. Special teams also played an integral role in the Lions' impressive victory over the Tigers, as Marshall transfer Brandon Rodgers ran in a punt blocked by freshman receiver Braden Boykin for a score and later Texas A&M/Oregon transfer Kirk Merritt had a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Guided by fourth-year head coach Sean Cannon, Itawamba broke into the win column in a big way last week by claiming a 27-24 home triumph over then-No. 5 Northwest Mississippi. With their three decisions thus far for the
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Provine was faced with a conundrum late in the summer, just a month before the start of its season.
Head coach Otis Ridley took a job at Copiah-Lincoln Community College as the offensive line coach and the Rams were looking for a new man to lead them in 2017. They chose one that was already in the program but knew exactly what foot- ball means at the school and in the city of Jackson when defensive coordinator Marcellus Speaks, a former Provine player, was announced as the man for the job.
Starkville coach Chris Jones knows just how good of a coach Speaks is as he was primed to hire him away from Provine earlier in the spring as his defensive line coach. He feels that the first few games and their 4-0 start has done the speaking for them.
“It was an easy transition for them because he was already on staff," Jones said. "He's a good coach and was the defensive coordinator for them last year. He's a Provine alum so he has a lot of love for Provine and understands what Provine used to be. I think they're headed back in that direction.”
Jones isn't just familiar with Speaks, he knows most of the staff really well. Two members of the coaching staff coached him at Jackson State and he learned much from those coaches.
Now they've helped build a team that's ready to compete in Class 6A, Region 2 and they want to start by knocking off the Yellowjackets on Friday night.
“They're a pretty good team,” Jones said. “I understand
EUPORA – There were plenty of chances there for the taking for Eupora softball on Wednesday, even after a rough first inning.
The Ethel Lady Tigers scored five runs in the first but only how they operate and their guys will play hard and be ready to come out and play. I think the defensive end is one of the best juniors coming up. Us facing some pretty good defensive ends before this game will help us out.”
The defensive end to account for is junior De'Monte Russell, a 6-5, 225-pound athlete that has limitless potential. Russell has already earned himself a four-star rating by 247Sports and is a top-100 player nationally for the 2019 recruiting class. His offer sheet includes Florida State, LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss and he still has room to grow.
The entire defense has some potential but SHS running back Rodrigues Clark sees an opportunity to make plays with a little extra effort.
“They have a pretty good team that fires off the ball, but they do a lot of arm-tackling,” Clark said. “I see a chance to break some big runs if they're going to do that. I'm focused on winning the game.”
Both teams will be pretty well focused on winning the game as it each want to start off district play with a victory to get a head start in what will be a battle between all of these teams.
Jones is hoping that a good week of practice can translate over to the game on Friday night in Jackson and give his team its third-straight win.
“We know that they're 4-0 and riding a high so we've got to make sure that we play some good football,” Jones said. “We want to try to jump on them early. This is important. We don't want to start out in the loss column.” three runs over the next five innings. Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles were leaving runners stranded and runs off the board. It happened far too many time for coach Amir Hunt's liking and led to a key district loss 8-4.
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