EMCC Lions clinch spot in playoffs
The fifth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College secured a share of their 10th MACCC North Division football title since 2008 with Thursday’s 52-6 home victory over the visiting 15th-ranked Coahoma Tigers at EMCC’s Sullivan-Wind- ham Field.
With Thursday’s win, the Lions claimed the MACCC North Di- vision’s No. 1 seed in the up- coming MACCC Football Playoffs. They will kick off the postseason next month by play- ing host to the No. 2 seed in the MACCC South Division’s standings on Saturday, Nov. 6, on the Scooba campus.
On that same day, the MACCC South’s regular-season winner will play host to the MACCC North’s No. 2 seed. The two winners of the MACCC Semifinals will meet for the 2021 MACCC Football Champi- onship the following Saturday (Nov. 13) at a site to be deter- mined by the semifinal-round results.
Coach Buddy Stephens’ 7-0 EMCC Lions (5-0 in MACCC North) will be on the road for the final two games of the regular season. After traveling to Wesson to take on the Wolves of Copiah-Lincoln on Thursday (Oct. 21), East Mississippi will look to capture the MACCC North Division regular-season championship outright by tak- ing on the Itawamba Indians the following Thursday (Oct. 28) in Fulton.
During their regular-season home finale against Coahoma, the EMCC Lions scored touch- downs on their first six offensive possessions of the game on the way to putting up 21 points during each of the first two quarters. With the Lions leading 42-0 at the half, the en- tire second half was played with a running clock due to the MACCC’s mandated 38-point mercy rule.
The game’s initial scoring drive came solely on the ground, as Montae Spivey’s 36- yard burst set up Jamari Jones’ 9-yard keeper to cap a five-play, 62-yard scoring drive two minutes into the contest.
Following a nine-play Coahoma drive that consumed nearly five minutes on the game clock before stalling near mid- field, EMCC recovered from a pair of drive-opening negative yardage plays to march 93 yards on the next four plays to move ahead 14-0. Jones connected with Duke Miller on a 49-yard scoring strike with five minutes remaining in the open- ing quarter.
The Lions then took advantage of a nine-play Coahoma drive that ended with a bob- bled punt snap and resulted in a 30-yard touchdown toss from Jones to Zach Patterson from 30 yards out in the next play from scrimmage. Peyton Rodgers’ third of seven straight successful PAT attempts on the night extended the lead to 21- 0 heading into the second quar- ter.
Another short field awaited EMCC after Ty Johnson fell on a Coahoma fumble just outside the red zone. Three plays later following a 26-yard pass to Myles Hopson, Jones found Patterson on a 4-yard screen pass that the Corinth product finished off by diving into the end zone for his team-leading sixth touchdown reception of the year and second of the game. Another Rodgers PAT made it 28-0 with 13:17 still remaining in the first half.
On the heels of another nine- play Coahoma drive that was extended due to a roughing the kicker penalty but later halted by EMCC around midfield, the Lions initially looked to be stopped on their fifth posses- sion of the game. However, on a fourth-and-11 play just out- side the red zone, the Tigers were called for a late hit out of bounds penalty on Jones that kept the drive alive. On the next play from scrimmage, KJ Lawrence scampered 13 yards up the middle to increase the margin to 35-0 with six minutes left in the half.
EMCC then benefitted from another Tigers turnover deep inside Coahoma territory when Joshua Short recovered a mis- handled handoff exchange on CCC’s very next play. Five plays later at the 3:41 mark, Jones threw his 20th touchdown of the year on an 8-yard scoring pass to Zias Perryman coming out of the backfield. The Lions’ sixth touchdown of the half made it a 42-0 contest heading into intermission.
Utilizing a running clock following halftime, the second half only featured three scores. The Lions further lengthened their lead to 45-0 at the 5:53 mark of the third quarter on a season- long, 42-yard made field goal by Rodgers.
The visiting Tigers managed to get on the scoreboard to- ward the end of the third quar- ter when backup quarterback Kennique Bonner-Steward hit KeAundre McCullough on a 60- yard catch and run with 1:17 remaining in the quarter.
The lone score in the fourth quarter came on a deflected pass by EMCC’s Damon Stew- art that was caught by Stacy Robinson in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown at the 5:25 mark.
Statistically for the winners, EMCC’s Jones accounted for 216 yards of total offense and five touchdowns in one half of action. The Northwest Rankin High School product threw for 161 yards and four touchdowns on 10-of-13 passing in addition to running for a game-high 55 yards and one score on four at- tempts.