Expectations sky high for Bulldogs in Howland’s seventh year
It was a year of tremendous growth for a young Mississippi State team in 2020 that was learning how to mesh well together.
The season had its rollercoaster vibes and the team barely slipped into the National Invitational Tournament, but by the end of the year, it was a team that was building for the future. State finished the season just 8-10 in the Southeastern Conference, but came out on top with a 18-15 record overall and made it all the way to the NIT Championship game for the second time in three years.
Since Ben Howland has arrived in Starkville, the Bulldogs have been steady but have yet to really get over the top. The longtime head coach in college basketball brought a heavy resume to Starkville and built MSU back into a competitor by year three with a 25-win season. The next season was an NCAA Tournament team followed by a team on the bubble before COVID-19 canceled the postseason.
While last season was a step back in terms of postseason play, the team was rebuilding and Howland’s squad pleasantly surprised at times. It’s made expectations sky high in year seven and the coach likes the preparation and mindset of his squad.
“Our guys, number one, are playing really hard and competing,” Howland said. “We have a competitive group so I like that a lot. I think we have good unselfish play out there and excellent passers that create for others. When we get everybody back at full strength, I will really be excited about that.”
There were some losses from MSU’S team a year ago. Jalen Johnson transferred along with starting post player Abdul Ado, top bench player Deivon Smith and another reserve in center Quinten Post. D.J. Stewart decided to go pro and went undrafted.
What Howland did, however, is fill those spots. He went and got two Power 5 guards in Shakeel Moore from North Carolina State and Rocket Watts from Michigan State. He got Memphis forward D.J. Jeffries and he also pulled in former ACC Player of the Year candidate
was a big part of the game. It turned the whole game around.”
EMCC went on a fourth quarter scoring surge following Williams’ block, which included an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jamari Jones to Kevin Barnett, a 34-yard interception return by Cam Mccullum and a 3-yard run for points by Zias Perryman.
It was a book end performance for Perryman as he also scored the first touchdown for the Lions with a 3-yard run with 12:17 remaining in the first quarter.
Northeast scored nine unanswered points in the first quarter with a 20-yard interception return by Tony Washington at the 7:55 mark, then Murrah booted a 41-yard field goal with 2:35 showing.
That enabled the Tigers to take a 9-7 lead at halftime.
After Northeast extended its advantage to 12-7 on a 27-yard field goal by Murrah at the 9:32 mark of the third quarter, Amariyon Howard, another former SHS Yellow Jacket, found the end zone from 1 yard out to give EMCC a 14-12 advantage with 6:46 left in the third quarter. It was the second touchdown of the season for Howard.
“It felt pretty good,” Howard said. “They put me in during a big-time situation in the game and they were depending on me to get it in at the goal line. I ran it in for the team.”
Northeast finished out the third-quarter scoring and took a 19-14 lead with a 2-yard quarterback keeper by JT Moore with 2:10 showing on the clock.
The EMCC defense, with the assist by Williams and the special teams, stood strong from that point and shut out the Tigers the rest of the way.
Lee Kpogba and former West Point High School player Brandon Lairy led the Lions on defense with 14 tackles each.
Perryman was EMCC’S leading rusher with 20 carries for 102 yards and the two touchdowns. Jones completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 211 yards, one touchdowns and four interceptions. Duke Miller had four catches for 88 yards.
It may have taken some work to get there, but the Lions survived a seven-turnover day and remained undefeated at 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the MACCC North Division.
“We almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory a couple of times there,” Stephens said. “We’ve got to do a better job of hanging onto the ball. Obviously, we did a lot of things bad today. Our kids overcame some of that. It’s my fault the things we did bad. A lot of those turnovers we were trying to get extra yards, or they were trying to strip away and couple where we threw them the ball. We’ve got to do a better job there of coaching them up.”
EMCC will be back at home on Thursday night against Coahoma Community College. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.