The five-time national champion East Mississippi Community College football team will kick off the 2021 season at 7 p.m. tonight by playing host to East Central Community College on the Scooba campus.
The game will mark the 10th anniversary of the debut of EMCC’s current Sullivan-Windham Field. That 2011 season was capped by the Lions’ first NJCAA football championship.
The EMCC-ECCC game will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9) of French Camp, with Jason Crowder doing the play-by-play and Glen Beard handling the color commentary. The game’s live-streamed audio will be carried by SuperTalk Mississippi (WZKR-FM 103.3) of Meridian as well as through EMCC’s campus radio station, WGTC-FM (92.7), originating from the Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew.
In addition, EMCC’s weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts will be available in HD at www.EMCCAthletics.com/live. Alternate audio streams of the radio broadcasts are also available at www.wfca.fm.
EMCC has won its past four meetings against ECCC, most recently posting a 24-0 win in 2019 in Scooba and a 24-21 win in 2018 in Decatur.
Lions coach Buddy Stephens opens the new season ranked fifth in wins among active NJCAA football coaches and second in career winning percentage for coaches with at least 100 games. Stephens is 116-17 at EMCC, ranking him fifth in wins in Mississippi junior college history and 31st on the all-time NJCAA list.
The Lions have won 47 of 49 games at the current Sullivan-Windham Field location, with both losses during a 6-4 season in 2019” 56-36 against Northwest Mississippi and 47-46 against Copiah-Lincoln.
The Lions will be on the road for their next two games, Sept. 9 at Southwest Mississippi and Sept,. 16 at Mississippi Delta, before returning home to take on Holmes on Sept. 23, when EMCC will recognize the 10 newest members of the school’s Sports Hall of Fame.
EMCC announces Sports Hall of Fame classes
Five new members of East Mississippi Community College’s 2020 Sports Hall of Fame class and an additional five inductees from the 2021 class will be recognized at halftime of the Lions’ game against Holmes at 7 p.m. Sept. 23 at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.
The Class of 2020 features: 2010 EMCC All-American and retired NFL defensive lineman Quinton Dial; current EMCC dean of students/Scooba campus and former Lions baseball player and coach and New Hope High School alum Tony Montgomery, former quarterback Greg Griffith, former basketball player Ike Clay and his brother, former baseball player Ronald Clay.
EMCC’s five-member Class of 2021 includes three former EMCC women’s basketball players: Martika Hull, Angelique Burtts and Columbus High School girls basketball coach Yvonne (Davis) Hairston, a former track athlete at Mississippi State. Other inductees will be two former Lions baseball players Brad Montgomery, Tony Montgomery’s younger brother, and Alan Page, owner of Page Place at Dodson Farm in Starkville. (current Columbus High School WBB coach & former MSU track athlete); along with former Lions baseball players Brad Montgomery (younger brother of fellow EMCC SHOF inductee/New Hope HS alum Tony Montgomery) and Alan Page (owner of Page Place at Dodson Farm in Starkville).
The EMCC Sports Hall of Fame has been honoring former Lions athletes dating to the 1930s since the first inductees were enshrined in 2001.
Bulldogs soccer heads north for Big Ten swing
The Mississippi State women’s soccer team will meet a Big Ten opponent for the first time when the Bulldogs travel north for two matches against conference teams this week.
State (2-2-0) is set to play at Minnesota (2-0-1) at 1 p.m. today before heading to Iowa to meet the Hawkeyes on Sunday. Thursday’s match will be broadcast on Big Ten Network+ and is accessible with a separate subscription.
“The girls are excited to play a different kind of opposition,” head coach James Armstrong said. “These are two really good teams that will give us great preparation to see where we’re at right now but also putting us in good standing for future games in the SEC.”
Minnesota has yet to allow a goal this season, claiming two 1-0 victories and battling to a scoreless draw with Illinois-Chicago. Against Drake, a penalty kick was the only goal scored.
“Very physical, very organized, fast, aggressive,” Amstrong said of the Gophers. “They’re dynamic going forward, but they’re also very tight and organized defensively. They’re a really good squad and a team that’s going to come out and defend their home territory. We’re excited to test ourselves.”
Following Thursday’s match, the Bulldogs will make the drive to Iowa, where they will practice Friday and Saturday before meeting the Hawkeyes at 1 p.m. Sunday. That match also will air on Big Ten Network+.
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