No. 5 EMCC travels to No. 16 Holmes CC
For Starkville Daily News
SCOOBA – Returning to the NJCAA’s Top 5 for the first time since the preseason football rankings, the fifth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College are set to begin the second half of their division slate on the road by taking on the No. 16 Bulldogs of Holmes Community College tonight in Goodman. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Ras Branch Field. Previously ranked first nationally in the NJCAA’s preseason poll, the 4-1 Lions have steadily climbed back from a No. 14 Week 2 ranking over the past month following their season-opening 27-25 road setback to now-No. 8 Jones County.
Since its opener, EMCC has knocked off thenNo. 17 Mississippi Gulf Coast (45-7), Northeast Mississippi (54-10), then-No. 15 Itawamba (4442) and Mississippi Delta (73-7). Including their current four-game winning streak, the Lions have prevailed in 56 of their last 60 games over the past six years dating back to their first of three national championship seasons.
Most recently, head coach Buddy Stephens’ Lions reached the 70-point mark for the sixth time under his guidance with last Thursday’s 73-7 home triumph over Mississippi Delta. In the victory, EMCC rushed for six touchdowns for the second time this season. Defensively, the Lions held Delta to less than 100 yards of total offense and made nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
With its current No. 5 national ranking, East Mississippi has now been ranked in the NJCAA Top 20 in 72 consecutive polls, including preseason and final rankings, spanning back to the team’s 2011 national championship season. For the past six years, the Lions have also ranked among the NJCAA’s top 10 teams in 56 of the last 61 regular-season polls (92 percent), including 43 weeks rated among the nation’s top five squads.
Engineered by recent NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week De’Andre Johnson, EMCC’s highpowered offense is ranked fifth nationally with an MACJC-best average of 48.2 points per game. Also a two-time MACJC Offensive Player of the Week recipient this year, Johnson ranks fourth nationally in averaging 292 passing yards an outing. The Florida State transfer from Jacksonville also remains the Lions’ leading rusher this year with 322 total yards on the ground. Johnson is averaging 372.5 yards of total offense per contest for the season.
Today’s EMCC-Holmes game will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Charlie Winfield slated to provide the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively, and Glen Beard set to serve as the Lions’ sideline reporter. EMCC’s 2016 football radio broadcasts will also be carried live by EMCC’s campus radio station, WGTC-FM (92.7), originating from the Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew.