A showdown is looming.
When East Mississippi Community College plays host to Itawamba Community College on Oct. 24 in the final regular season game of 2013, a lot more could be on the line than pride between the two long-standing rivals.
Each team made the Top 10 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association’s rankings, when the poll was released Tuesday by the association. EMCC is third-ranked nationally, while Itawamba is ranked seventh. Both teams are 4-0. Both schools moved up two spots in this week’s rankings.
“It’s an honor to be ranked amongst the nation’s best in the eyes of the NJCAA,” Itawamba fourth-year coach Jon Williams said. “I hope our players see this as a responsibility to reflect those rankings by going to work each day to keep getting better and be able to play like a top-ranked team each time we take the field.”
For Itawamba, it is their highest ranking since the 2007 season, which included the school’s last North Division championship.
Itawamba (4-0 overall, 2-0 North Division) plays host to Northwest Mississippi Community College (1-3, 1-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday for Homecoming in Fulton. The Indians are 4-0 for the first time since 1992 and have never been 5-0 in the program’s history.
Northwest won last season, 49-7 in Senatobia.
“We have to be much more focused than we have the past two weeks to even hope to come away with a win against a very dangerous Northwest team,” Williams said. “They’ve had our number over the past few years and can really turn things around by a getting a win over us on Homecoming.”
Itawamba has opened division play with less-than-stellar victories over winless foes Mississippi Delta Community College (23-13) and Holmes Community College (13-10).
In the win over Holmes, freshman quarterback Andrew Goodman threw for 151 yards, with both a passing and rushing touchdown. Sophomore linebacker C.J. Jackson led the defense with 10 tackles, including four for loss.
Still, the Indians appear to have a chance to get to the showdown game unbeaten. ICC and EMCC are the lone North Division teams in the national rankings.
Ranked teams from the South Division include No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln Community College, No. 9 Jones Junior College, No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and No. 20 Hinds Community College.
Itawamba does play Co-Lin next Thursday in Wesson. The other three ranked South Division foes are not on the schedule.
In Scooba, EMCC trails only No. 1 Navarro (Tex.) College and No. 2 Iowa Western Community College in the latest rankings. Former No. 1 Gulf Coast lost 52-42 at home to Jones last Thursday night.
“It is good to be ranked but the only ranking we are worried about is the final ranking,” said EMCC sophomore quarterback Dontreal Pruitt, who has thrown for a state-best 1,367 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. “Right now, we are focusing on the next game. If we can keep playing this thing one game at a time, we will wind up where we want to go.”
EMCC (4-0 overall, 1-0 North Division) plays host to Coahoma (0-4, 0-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday for Homecoming, as well. Under sixth-year head coach Buddy Stephens, the Lions are 28-3 in division play. While third is the highest-ranking of this season, EMCC has spent some stretch of time No. 1 in the nation in each of the past two seasons.
“We still have some things to clean up,” Stephens said. “The thing with this group is they are never going to quit working. They are aware of where we are and what we need to do next.”
Prior to the Itawamba contest, EMCC will face four division foes with a combined record of 3-13. The NJCAA Top 20 rankings include a strength of schedule component over the final month of the regular season. Thus, a drop in the rankings are likely once that is factored in with next week’s poll.
“All we can control is how well we play,” Pruitt said. “Everyone understands how good we can become. We are still having turnovers and making penalties. We just have to keep working for that perfect game. It is what we strive for. You will never play the perfect game, but we want to be as close as we can.”
EMCC has won 18 straight series meetings from Coahoma, including a 38-17 win last season in Clarksdale. The Lions have outscored their first four opponents 247-6 this season, including 163-0 in the first half.
“We take pride in strong starts,” said EMCC sophomore defensive lineman Jimmie Gipson, who has had a hand in three straight shutouts for the Lions. “Defensively, we are playing with a lot of confidence right now. Even though our offense makes our job easy, there is let up. You have to play well on both sides of the ball to win championships.”
In the latest JCGridiron.com Dirty Thiry, EMCC moved to No. 1 in the nation this week. EMCC swapped places with Riverside (Calif.) Community College in this week’s ranking, despite each team winning last week. Itawamba slipped from No. 12 to No. 13 in this ranking. Gulf Coast checks in at the nation’s highest ranked one-loss team at 10th.
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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