PITTSBURG, Kansas — East Mississippi Community College sophomore linebacker Untareo Johnson knew what play was coming.
It was up to the hometown hero from Jonestown to save the day.
Johnson did just that by stopping Garden City C.C.’s Kahari Love at the 1-yard line on a two-point conversion attempt with 7 minutes, 49 seconds left to play.
Johnson’s tackle turned out to be the decisive play Thursday night in No. 1 EMCC’s 10-9 victory against No. 2 Garden City C.C. in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship at Carnie Smith Stadium.
The win helped EMCC (12-0) complete an undefeated season for the third time in program history and earn a fifth national title.
“When they score a touchdown, they always come out and run the swinging gate,” Johnson said. “We have practiced that play for three weeks. They should have never scored the touchdown in the first place. After they did, there was no way the best defense in the nation was going to give up that conversion. We were ready. It was time to make a play.”
Two of the nation’s top offenses gave way to a defensive stalemate before a boisterous crowd at a neutral site in front of a national television audience on CBS Sports Network.
Garden City C.C. (10-1) completed only two passes and turned the ball over four times.
The Broncbusters also appeared stopped there in the fourth quarter when a third-and-11 play ended with eventual Player of the Game Everitt Cunningham being penalized for a roughing the passer call after he pushed David Moore after he had released the football.
The half-the-distance to the goal penalty gave Garden City C.C. new life with first-and-goal at the 6-yard line, but it still needed four downs before Dedrick Mills scored the only offensive touchdown on a 1-yard dive play.
“We knew if they scored, they were going to for two,” EMCC sophomore defensive back JaQuez Akins said. “They are a running team, so it wasn’t going to be anything fancy. As soon as they scored, we told everybody to get their heads back up because the biggest play of the game was next.”
EMCC’s defense had a bevy of big plays. Jacob Anderson ended the next-to-last Garden City drive with an interception. Cunningham then closed the door for good with a fumble recovery.
It was the second big fumble recovery in the game for the former West Point High School standout. A strip and 11-yard jaunt by Cunningham gave the Lions a 10-0 halftime lead. The other turnover was an interception by Joseph Anderson.
“We just had to make a statement,” Cunningham said. “If the offense has an off night, we have to have their back. Proud of these guys for being relentless for making play after play. We did this in the national championship game. We had something to prove and we did a great job of proving it.”
Garden City ran the ball 54 times for 236 yards. The Broncbusters had 16 yards passing.
“This defense was special,” Johnson said. “All of these brothers out here, I loved playing with them. We just had a bunch of guys balling out. When somebody makes a big play and we get off the field, well that just motivates everybody else. We are always trying to do one better than one another. It’s a friendly competition. It’s what makes us great. I will never have a chance to play on a defense like this again.”
EMCC’s best offensive drive of the night took place on its second possession. The Lions drove 61 yards on 10 plays but had to settle for a 36-yard Josh Smith field goal.
The Cunningham return took place early in the second quarter. From there, EMCC couldn’t deliver the knockout blow.
“Our offense moved the ball well and some things just happen,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said. “We never could get that critical score. Fortunately, the defense was lights out the entire night.”
Late in the third quarter, Garden City C.C. drove to the EMCC 7. Again, Johnson, Cunningham, and Fred Hervey bowed that necks to force a field goal.
That stop proved just as critical as Johnson’s stop roughly 11 minutes of playing time later.
Eriq Kitchen led EMCC with 13 tackles, including three for loss. Johnson had 11 stops, while Cunningham had eight stops, including three for loss.
“We came way too far to not get the job done,” Kitchen said. “Tonight, was all about winning a championship. We got it done.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.