SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College sophomore quarterback Vijay Miller was named Tuesday the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) Offensive Player of the Week.
It marks the second time in as many weeks an EMCC player has received the award to begin the season.
Miller was honored after he replaced Messiah deWeaver, last week’s winner of the award, and led No. 1 EMCC to a 59-10 victory against Pearl River C.C. last Thursday in Poplarville.
In his second appearance on the gridiron since returning to Scooba following a two-year summer stint as a professional baseball pitcher with the San Diego Padres’ Arizona (Rookie) League affiliate, Miller totaled 294 yards of offense and accounted for three touchdowns. He was 18-for-30 for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He also had seven carries for 60 yards and another score.
After spending the 2016 football season as a backup quarterback for the EMCC football team and then pitching for the school’s baseball team the following spring, the Padres selected Miller in the 14th round (408th overall pick) of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.92 earned run average in 30 appearances.
He has struck out 61 and walked 25 in 53 innings.
Two years ago as a freshman, Miller was 47-for-74 for 599 yards and six touchdowns in backing up National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American and current Florida Atlantic quarterback De’Andre Johnson. As the team’s short-yardage signal caller, Miller led the 2016 Lions with nine rushing touchdowns. During his collegiate debut in 2016, Miller was 22-for-37 for 248 yards and three touchdowns on while earning the start in EMCC’s season-opening 27-25 loss at Jones County Junior College.
Miller, a two-sport standout out of Itawamba Agricultural High School, followed in the spring of his EMCC freshman year by posting a 5-0 pitching record for EMCC’s 2017 baseball team. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder had a 3.97 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.