SCOOBA — When the crowd drew quiet and the East Mississippi Community College football team was set to come out of a timeout to start a drive from its 1-yard line, one voice could be heard over any other at Sullivan-Windham Field.
EMCC band director Steve Stringer used a megaphone to tell his band members to “cue the fight song.”
On this night, it was good to have a megaphone handy.
No. 9 EMCC sent a statement Thursday night with a 73-7 victory against Mississippi Delta C.C. in a Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division game.
The teams played for the first time since a benches-clearing brawl in the final game of the 2015 regular season resulted in that game being called in the final minute of the first half with EMCC leading 48-0.
Whether the statement sent was personal was debatable.
EMCC freshman wide receiver Daniel Crowell saw video of the fight during his senior year at Meridian High School. While the fight wasn’t discussed in practice, Crowell felt a message needed to be sent.
“We really wanted to remind them we are where we are and they are where they are,” Crowell said. “I think the scoreboard tonight sent a really powerful message. It sent the one we wanted to send. Right now, we are really rolling.”
EMCC sophomore running back Isaiah Wright was part of the altercation a year ago. He said throughout fall camp “getting back at Delta” was on the minds of the sophomores, but he said that position softened as game week approached.
“When you think about this game, you would think it would be personal,” Wright said. “(Delta) pretty much cost us everything last season, so in a way, it was personal but really more so, it was not. When the game kicked off, we didn’t have a score to settle. We just wanted to win a game. That is what matters most to this year’s team.”
Mississippi Delta instigated last year’s fight with a hard tackle out of bounds on former EMCC running back D.J. Law. The Trojans already were out of the playoff race and had little to play for in the final game of the regular season. After a half filled with personal foul penalties, the altercation broke out. The then third-ranked Lions saw their season end prematurely when the MACJC banned the squad from the postseason.
EMCC coach Buddy Stephens admitted he was concerned about his team being “too amped up.” Stephens said he was worried his players would succumb to the pressure and try too hard to send a statement.
Instead, EMCC scored on the opening possession after a 70-yard, six-play drive. On the ensuing kickoff, Duke Upshaw had a strip and Columbus native Alex Lipscomb had the recovery. Isaiah Wright scored his second touchdown two plays later to make it 14-0 lead before many of the fans had found their way to a seat.
From there, EMCC (4-1, 3-0 MACJC North Division) rolled to its most complete victory of the season.
Brian Cole returned a fumble 50 yards on the final play of the first half to give EMCC a 45-7 halftime lead. With a 38-point separation, the second half was played with a running clock. EMCC finished with the most points scored in an MACJC game since that clock rule was established for the 2014 season.
EMCC sophomore linebacker Dontavious Powell also was on the field for the bitter end last season. Powell had a big hand in the victory with four tackles for loss and two pass breakups.
“It was all about business this week,” Powell said. “I don’t think last year’s game had anything to do with it. We wanted to come out and make a statement because we are the EMCC football team and we want to make a statement every week. Defensively, we had a lot of fun out there tonight. We played the game tonight because we wanted another win and we got it.”
Mississippi Delta (1-4, 0-3) scored its second touchdown of the season on the second quarter after a tip-drill interception placed the Trojans on the Lions’ 5. Still it took three plays and new life on a pass interference call to get the Trojans in the end zone.
“The defense was lights out,” Stephens said. “We sure wanted that shutout, though. That would have been mighty nice.”
Even without the shutout, EMCC emerged better in all phases. Despite the running clock, EMCC finished with 468 yards, while Delta had 67 yards. Cole had a punt block in addition to his fumble return.
After winning back-to-back MACJC offensive player of week honors, former Florida State quarterback De’Andre Johnson again delivered for EMCC with a 15-of-26 night for 229 yards and three touchdowns.
EMCC has scored 216 points in its last four games. Second-year players had to miss the season-opening loss at Jones County Junior College due to last season’s fight against Mississippi Delta.
“The offense is clicking,” Wright said. “You can’t but help be excited what is happening. We knew we had some things to get past (such as not playing together in the opener), but once we got on the field and started playing games together, it was going to be look out.”
Crowell scored his second junior college touchdown Thursday night. The fight song played after he crossed the goal line. It also played after a 99-yard drive in the second quarter less than two minutes of playing time after Stringer told his troops to get ready.
Crowell looks for lots more of the fight song in the weeks ahead.
“Dre (Johnson) is just an incredible human being and an incredible ballplayer,” Crowell said. “We are just getting started, though. There is so much football left to be played. We are rolling, but it is going to get even better. When that happens, we will really be having some fun.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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