EMCC announces 2018 schedule
For Starkville Daily News
SCOOBA – The four-time national champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College will look to bid for additional championship hardware during the upcoming football season with a 2018 regular-season slate that features four home games and five road contests.
On the heels of their fourth NJCAA national championship in seven seasons and sixth MACJC state title in nine years, 11thyear head coach Buddy Stephens' EMCC Lions will kick off the 2018 campaign by playing host to the Hinds Eagles on Thursday, Aug. 30. Kickoff at Sullivan-Windham Field is set for 7 p.m. on the Scooba campus. This marks the third straight year for EMCC to play MACJC South Division power Hinds after closing out the past two regular-season schedules against the Eagles.
EMCC's month of September will open and close with road outings against newly added MACJC South Division opponents Pearl River on Sept. 6 and East Central on Sept. 27. This year will mark the Lions' first gridiron meetings with the Wildcats and Warriors since the 2013 season.
With eight MACJC North Division football crowns in the previous 10 years under Stephens' guidance, EMCC's 2018 division slate begins with a Sept. 13 road trip to Fulton to take on the Itawamba Indians. The following week, the Lions will welcome the Trojans of Mississippi Delta to Scooba for a Sept. 20 home contest.
The much-anticipated rubber match between MACJC North rivals EMCC and Northwest Mississippi looks to highlight the MACJC's nine-week, regular-season football schedule. Set to make a third consecutive trek to Senatobia on Oct. 4, the Lions will take on the reigning division champion Rangers after splitting last year's two matchups on the Northwest campus. A season ago, EMCC had its 17-game win streak snapped with a 61-38 road setback to the Rangers on Oct. 12. A month later (Nov. 11) in Senatobia, the Lions avenged just their fourth division loss in 10 seasons under Stephens' guidance by posting a thrilling 67-66 double-overtime victory over Northwest in last year's MACJC state championship contest.
The Holmes Bulldogs will provide EMCC's homecoming competition this year by visiting the Scooba campus on Saturday, Oct. 13 for a 2 p.m. kickoff at Sullivan-Windham Field. The Lions' month of October will conclude with an Oct. 18 home game against Coahoma and a trip to Booneville a week later (Oct. 25) for their regular-season finale at Northeast Mississippi.
With the top two teams from the MACJC's North and South Division regular-season standings advancing to the MACJC State Semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 3, the 2018 MACJC State/NJCAA Region 23 Championship Game will be played the following Saturday (Nov. 10) at a site to be determined.
In ranking as the only school affiliated with the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges to capture four national football titles (2011, 2013, 2014 & 2017), as recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association, East Mississippi currently trails only Butler (Kan.) and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for most national football titles (six each) in NJCAA history.