SCOOBA – The East Mississippi Community College football team has accepted an invitation to play Arizona Western College in the Mississippi Bowl.
The second-annual contest will be played Dec. 6 in Biloxi. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at 6,000-seat Biloxi Indian Stadium.
General admission tickets are available for $8 per ticket by ordering online at www.mississippibowl.com or by calling the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Foundation Office at 601- 928-6344. Tickets will be $10 at the gate on the day of the game.
Ranked fifth nationally in this week”s NJCAA/JCFootball.com poll, EMCC (10-1) will take a seven-game winning streak into the game after claiming the school”s first-ever state football championship with a 75-71 home triumph against Mississippi Gulf Coast on Nov. 7.
With a composite two-year record of 18-3 under Coach Buddy Stephens” guidance, EMCC has claimed back-to-back MACJC North Division championships and made consecutive state football playoff appearances for the first time in school history.
Guided by second-year head coach Tom Minnick, Arizona Western College is 9-1 as regular-season co-champions (with Snow College) of the Western States Football League.
Arizona Western features the nation”s leading rusher in freshman running back Reggie Bullock. Despite missing two games due to injury, he averages 162 yards per game and trails only Vick Ballard, of Mississippi Gulf Coast, with 17 rushing touchdowns.
Having tied the school record with 10 wins this season, EMCC will make the program”s first postseason bowl appearance since Hall of Fame head coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan”s 10-1-1 EMJC squad claimed the 1963 Hospitality Bowl title with an 18-14 victory against Tyler (Texas) Junior College in a contest played in Gulfport.
Prior to that, Sullivan”s Lions posted a 13-6 win over Marion (Ala.) Military Institute in the 1962 Magnolia Bowl in Columbus.
Also, EMCC dropped a 26-0 decision to Wharton (Texas) Junior College in the 1961 Hospitality Bowl in Gulfport and Sullivan”s first team fell 46-20 to Holmes in the 1950 Laurel Lions Bowl.
This year”s other NJCAA football bowl games include: top-ranked Fort Scott CC (Kan.) versus. No. 2 Blinn College (Texas) in the Citizen”s Bank Bowl on Dec. 6 in Pittsburg, Kan., No. 3 Grand Rapids CC (Mich.) versus No. 8 Snow College (Utah) in the Zions Bank Top of the Mountains Bowl on Dec. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah, No. 4 Navarro College (Texas) versus. No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast in the CHAMPS Heart of Texas Bowl on Dec. 5 in Copperas Cove, Texas; No. 9 Central Lakes College (Minn.) versus No. 13 Ellsworth CC (Iowa) in the Graphic Edge Bowl on Nov. 22 in Cedar Falls, Iowa; Glendale CC (Ariz.) versus No. 11 Dean College (Mass.) in the Valley of the Sun Bowl on Dec. 5 in Phoenix, Ariz.; No. 14 Rochester CTC (Minn.) versus No. 19 Coffeyville CC (Kan.) in the North Star Bowl on Nov. 21 in Rochester, Minn.; and No. 16 New Mexico Military Institute versus No. 20 Hutchinson CC (Kan.) in the Central Bank Salt City Bowl on Dec. 5 in Hutchinson, Kan.
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