EMCC Lions announce 2021 football schedule
SCOOBA – Returning to the gridiron this fall following last year’s opt-out season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the five-time national champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College have announced their 2021 football schedule.
EMCC’s nine-game, regular-season football slate consists of five road games and four home contests. Along with outings against all six Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) North Division foes, the Lions will also take on MACCC South Division opponents East Central, Southwest Mississippi and Copiah-Lincoln during the regular season.
A busy month of September will feature five EMCC games beginning with a season-opening home contest against the Warriors of East Central on Sept. 2. The Lions’ first road action will take them to Summit a week later (Sept. 9) to face a Southwest Mississippi squad guided by former EMCC defensive coordinator Cliff Collins.
Following the pair of non-division games to open the season, East Mississippi will close out the month of September with a trio of MACCC North Division contests. A Sept. 23 home meeting with Holmes is sandwiched between road outings against Mississippi Delta (Sept. 16) and reigning conference champion Northwest Mississippi (Sept. 30).
Dating back to the 2009 season when EMCC claimed a school-first of seven MACCC football championships during a 10-year span (2009-18), the Lions and NWCC Rangers have combined to win nine of the last 12 conference titles on the gridiron. EMCC bested Northwest in the state championship game during back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017.
EMCC’s month of October will kick off with a Homecoming encounter with Northeast Mississippi on Saturday, Oct. 9. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus. After closing out their home slate during a short week with a Thursday (Oct. 14) outing against Coahoma, the Lions will conclude regular-season play with road matchups versus MACCC South contender Copiah-Lincoln (Oct. 21) and MACCC North foe Itawamba (Oct. 28).
Featuring the top two teams from each division based on regular-season division play, the 2021 MACCC football playoffs will begin on Saturday, Nov. 6, with semifinal-round action. The MACCC championship game will be held the following Saturday (Nov. 13).
The upcoming 2021 football season will mark the 10th anniversary of East Mississippi Community College’s first of five NJCAA football championships captured during an eight-year span (2011-18) under the direction of 13th-year head football coach Buddy Stephens. The 2011 season also marked the debut of EMCC’s current Sullivan-Windham Field facility.