The dream matchup is almost a reality.
When the final NJCAA top 20 of the regular season was released Monday morning, there were no major surprises. For a second straight week, the East Mississippi Community College football team was ranked second in the nation, while No. 1 Arizona Western College also made it back-to-back weeks in the top spot.
Those teams are expected to accept bids to the El Toro Bowl sometime today. Hosted by Arizona Western, the El Toro Bowl will be at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Yuma, Ariz. Bowl bids for the seven December NJCAA bowl games may be extended any time after noon today.
EMCC (11-0) matched a school record for victories and captured its second state championship with a 42-17 win against No. 9 Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. on Saturday in Scooba.
Arizona Western (11-0) set a school record for wins with a 45-13 victory against longtime rival Mesa C.C. on Saturday. AWC won its third straight Western States Football League title this season.
Against MGCCC, EMCC rallied from a 10-7 halftime and 17-14 fourth-quarter deficit. Quarterback Bo Wallace threw four touchdown passes, giving him a nation-best 46 this season. Wide receiver Lacoltan Bester caught three touchdowns to help the Lions beat the Bulldogs for the second time in three seasons in the title game.
By winning the Mississippi state championship, EMCC earned an automatic invitation to the Mississippi Bowl on Dec. 4 in Biloxi. EMCC can opt out of that bowl invitation if given a chance to play the top-ranked team in a potential national championship matchup. Under that scenario, MGCCC would accept the Mississippi Bowl invitation as the state’s runner-up.
In the 2010 Mississippi Bowl, MGCCC defeated Grand Rapids C.C., 62-53. EMCC beat Arizona Western 27-24 in its only Mississippi Bowl appearance in 2009.
The Lions, who have never won a national championship in football, received one of seven first-place votes in the final regular-season ranking. Arizona Western increased the overall gap between the top two by two points, moving the advantage to 138-131.
Third-ranked Grand Rapids C.C. (10-0) and No. 7 Rochester Community & Technical College (11-0) are the other nationally ranked undefeated teams. The other Mississippi team in the final rankings is No. 20 Hinds C.C. (7-3).
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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