SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College sophomore running back Xavier Hogan knew this was his chance to help the team.
Hogan got his four carries of the game on his team’s most important drive. The former West Point High School standout responded with 31 yards and the go-ahead touchdown as No. 3 EMCC held off No. 5 Northwest Mississippi C.C. 56-49 Thursday in a MACJC North Division heavyweight battle at Sullivan-Windham Field.
“We played like champions tonight,” Hogan said. “These are the kinds of things that champions do. They respond when they are needed most.”
The Lions (8-0, 5-0 division) ran for 302 yards — third most in a game this season. Prior to Hogan’s flurry of snaps, starting running back Rodriguez Moore and quarterback Quez Johnson had all of the carries.
Northwest (6-1, 5-1) wasn’t ready for the quick-dashing Hogan. The first run went for 5 yards and converted a third-and-2 at the Northwest 30-yard line. The next two runs went up the gut and covered 10 and 13 yards. Hogan then went over the top from 2 yards out. The touchdown — his fourth of the season — gave EMCC a 49-42 lead with 9 minutes, 7 seconds left in regulation time.
“I was happy I got the call and ever happier I was able to respond,” Hogan said. “Tonight, you saw our offense the way it can play. I think things can get even better from here.”
EMCC’s defense had led the way. Entering the game, the Lions had posted three shutouts in seven games and allowed only one touchdown in two other victories. On the other side, questions marks surrounded an offense that was averaging 47.5 points per game.
“This was the complete package,” Moore said. “You saw what this offense can do when it works. There have been some times when we didn’t do our part this year. This was a great win, though. The offense scored 56 points and the defense got five turnovers.”
Moore ran for a season-high 144 yards on 18 rushes. The Bastrop, La., native has 11 100-yard rushing games in his two-year EMCC career. Moore also topped the 2,000-yard rushing mark for his career in the victory.
Johnson had a season-high 30 completions in 44 attempts for 381 yards — his second-best total of the season. He was sacked twice and threw two interceptions.
“(Johnson’s) confidence was sky high after the first possession,” Stephens said. “Then it dropped after both of those interceptions. We had to bring him to the sidelines and cheer him back up. You are going to make mistakes. You just have to play through them. I thought he did a great job after that after we worked on him mentally some.”
EMCC had its second best offensive night with 675 yards of offense. The Lions were 9 of 16 on third down and 1 of 2 on fourth down. The Lions also had five scoring drives in the two- to three-minute range.
“We had four turnovers and some really bad penalties,” Stephens said. “There are things to clean up. However, we know how close we are on offense.”
Playoff tickets
Northwest clinched a playoff berth last week with a 32-20 victory against Holmes C.C. EMCC punched its ticket Thursday night. Stephens has led the Lions to playoff appearances in all five of his seasons as coach.
EMCC secures the North Division title for the fourth time in five seasons and will host the South Division runner-up in a first-round playoff game at 2 p.m. Nov. 3. Northwest will travel to the South Division champion.
The South Division champion will host the state championship game at 2 p.m. Nov. 10. If Northwest and EMCC win in the first round, a state championship rematch would be played in Scooba.
Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. and Copiah-Lincoln C.C. will play Saturday in Wesson for the South Division title. A Co-Lin victory would give the Wolves the division title and open the door for Jones Junior College to finish second if it beats Southwest Mississippi C.C. on Saturday. A Gulf Coast win could create a three-way tie in the division.
Noteworthy
EMCC won the turnover battle for the eighth time this season by a narrow margin. The offense suffered four turnovers, including two interceptions by Johnson, a Moore interception on an ill-timed halfback pass, and a fumble by Moore following a pass reception, his first of the season. But EMCC had five interceptions — Justin Cox’s fourth and fifth, Jason Yarbor’s third and fourth, and Shaquille Fluker’s fifth. … EMCC recorded its fourth kick block of the season. Corey Williams and Quinn McClendon combined to stop a 43-yard field goal attempt. The block came with the Rangers leading 42-35 late in the third quarter. … All five EMCC-Northwest games under Stephens have been decided by eight points or less. EMCC is 4-1 in those five games. … EMCC has won 20 straight games, 20 straight regular-season games, 13 straight North Division games, and 12 straight home games, including all nine played in the new stadium. … The Lions are 27-2 in division games under Stephens and 14-6 against ranked opponents. The national NJCAA record win streak is 26 games set by Blinn (Texas) College from 1995-97.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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