Articles by Scott Walters
Familiar problem plagues Falcons in loss to Green Wave
WEST POINT — Columbus High School football coach Randal Montgomery has experienced nights like the one he had Friday.
Columbus moved inside the West Point 20-yard line four times Friday night at Hamblin Stadium. However, the Falcons only had three points to show for those efforts.
The Columbus defense held as long as it could before West Point ripped off two touchdowns to take a 13-3 victory.
West Point receives lift from seniors, regroups to beat Columbus
WEST POINT — West Point senior cornerback Jeffrey Drake knew what his team needed Monday at practice.
“I just wanted to remind the young guys we are a good team and we can still be a great team,” Drake said. “Some of the sophomores were a little shocked last week. We just had to come out and keep working. It was important to keep the heads up.”
The heads were up, the rushing game was churning out yards, and West Point returned to the win column Friday with a 13-3 victory against Columbus at Hamblin Stadium.
EMCC bounces back, routs Coahoma C.C.
SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College sophomore wide receiver Allenzae Staggers received some alarming news Sunday during film session.
“Coach pulled me aside and told me I would be fielding punts (Thursday night),” Staggers said. “In all my years of playing football, I had never done that. I didn’t tell coach that. I just knew this would be another opportunity, so I decided to go with it.”
After seeing a 25-game winning streak snapped in an overtime loss at Copiah-Lincoln C.C., EMCC coach Buddy Stephens knew some changes were in order.
Walters column: Area teams making the grade through early stages of season
The prep football season is rapidly approach region or district play.
Conner returns with career-best game vs. New Hope
Junior Kendre Conner admits his film preparation for the Columbus High School football team’s game against New Hope last week might have been the best of his career.
On Aug. 28, Conner suffered a concussion in the first quarter against Noxubee County and had to leave the game, which the Tigers won 25-8. Last week, Conner’s return to the lineup was slow and his return to the practice field limited.
However, when the lights were turned on, Conner regained his usual form, rushing 21 times for 227 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-6 victory.
Columbus’ defense, ground game too much for New Hope
Columbus High School senior defensive lineman Christopher Deloach had nightmares after last season’s game against Lowndes County rival New Hope.
“They ran for 200-something yards against us,” Deloach said. “They ran over, around, and through us all night. It took a while to recover from that. It may have been my longest night on a football field.”
With the mind-set of stopping the run and preventing a repeat performance, the Columbus defense administered a dominating performance in a 27-6 win Friday night at Falcon Field.
New Hope can’t find rhythm against Columbus
Through the first two week of the football season, the New Hope High School offense had gained a lot of yards and scored a fair number of points.
The script changed Friday night at Falcon Field.
Columbus held New Hope to 131 yards of offense en route to a 27-6 victory.
MSU football knocks off Southern Mississippi in season opener
HATTIESBURG – Mississippi State sputtered its way to a season-opening football victory Saturday night.
Copiah-Lincoln ends EMCC’s winning streak at 25
WESSON — The streak is over.
When Jaquarius Landrews intercepted a Wyatt Roberts pass and then fell to the turf, one of the biggest celebrations in the history of H.L. Stone Stadium took place.
No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln Community College defeated No. 1 East Mississippi C.C. 31-24 in overtime before a capacity crowd Thursday night. The celebration included players, coaches, and fans flooding the field.
The loss snapped EMCC’s three-season winning streak at 25 games. The Lions fell one win shy of matching the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) record for consecutive wins. EMCC’s last loss was a 47-46 setback to Co-Lin in the semifinals of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) state playoffs in 2012.
No. 1 EMCC faces No. 4 Co-Lin in MACJC showdown
SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College football coach Buddy Stephens rarely resorts to bulletin board material.
Walters column: Columbus needs to fix turnover problem to take next step
Columbus High School head football coach Randal Montgomery knew there were would be growing pains as he tried to rebuild the Falcons program.
Reavis making most of second chance at EMCC
East Mississippi Community College sophomore defensive back C.J. Reavis admits he had to go to Google to gather some information before signing with the Lions in August.
Elimination of recruiting districts helped pave way for EMCC’s rise
Editor’s Note: The Dispatch continues its series titled “Pieces of a Dynasty,” which examines the East Mississippi Community College football team’s rise to national prominence. Today, The Dispatch analyzes how the elimination of the recruiting districts in the state of Mississippi has helped EMCC become the state of Mississippi’s most dominant program, and win national titles three of the past four seasons.
In the final weeks before National Signing Day, Noxubee County High School football coach Tyrone Shorter estimates he works an extra full day per week.
2011 was year that changed landscape for EMCC
SCOOBA — When Dr. Rick Young took over as president at East Mississippi Community College in 2004, he had a long-range plan for athletics.
It is a safe bet that the school’s success far exceeded his best-laid plans.
“I have never met anyone with a vision like Dr. Young,” EMCC eighth-year football coach Buddy Stephens said. “Dr. Young always had every answer to every question. He had an answer to a problem before you saw it coming. He was not one or two steps ahead, he was on another block.”
Head football coach at EMCC: ‘Call me a lifer’
Buddy Stephens knew the East Mississippi Community College football team hadn’t had a lot of success before he took the job.
He didn’t care.
Turnovers too much for Columbus to overcome
MACON — Regardless of the score, Columbus High School senior free safety Hezekiah Manigo signed up for four quarters of work Friday night.
“This team will always keep battling,” Manigo said. “That has become our battle cry this year. We are a different team. On defense, we take pride in working hard for four quarters. We didn’t do our job right in the second half. It doesn’t matter how many things go wrong in a game. We have to keep fighting to keep the other team out of the end zone.
Starkville’s Horsley plays big role in EMCC’s win
SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College freshman running back Jacquez Horsley has never doubted his athletic ability.
He has doubted whether he could stay healthy enough to realize the depth of that talent.
Injuries put a major damper on each of Horsley’s final two seasons at Starkville High School. Those setbacks also might have played a role in his lack of major Division I offers, so signing with the state of Mississippi’s premier junior college program was in his words “a chance to re-start my career.”
The opening act of the new career was a smash hit.
No. 1 EMCC rolls Southwest to extend winning streak
SCOOBA — Having played football his entire life, East Mississippi Community College defensive lineman Ronald Ollie knows the length of a football field.
However, Ollie had never really thought about how much of that field he could cover with the other team in pursuit in live action.
Ollie returned a fumble 24 yards for the go-ahead touchdown Thursday night at Sullivan-Windham Field. From there, the floodgates opened as No. 1 EMCC beat Southwest Mississippi C.C. 69-20 in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) season opener for both teams.
