It was all going well for the No. 12 Lions of East Mississippi Community College, then suddenly it wasn’t.
A 22-yard touchdown throw by quarterback Rodge Waldrop to Reggie Jackson, an 83-yard punt return and a 29-yard field goal by Hayden Houpt led to a 17-3 halftime lead that collapsed in the second half as hosting Itawamba Community College reeled off 31 unanswered points to deal EMCC a 34-24 loss Sept. 18 in Fulton that moved the Lions out of the NJCAA national rankings.
Eli Burciaga kicked a 28-yard field goal to give the Indians some momentum heading into the break, and Itawamba got the ball to start the third quarter and went straight to work. In only five plays the team covered 75 yards and running back Mykel Allen ran in a 2-yard run to cut the Lions’ lead to 17-10 in a drive that only took two minutes off the clock. EMCC struggled to move the ball in the third quarter and punted on its first two possessions and its defense eventually gave way to another score. The Indians knotted the game at 17-17 late in the quarter off a Nate Branch 33-yard scoring reception from quarterback Deljay Bailey to cap a drive of 76 yards on eight plays.
During the Lions’ following drive, one the team needed to use to gain some ground and get into scoring position, the Lions fumbled the ball away to the Indians after a catch and lost even more yards due to an unsportsmanlike penalty on the play. With possession near midfield, ICC settled for a 48-yard field goal that Burciaga drilled for a 20-17 lead – the team’s first of the game – to begin the fourth quarter. EMMC struggled again to move the ball and punted back to the Indians, who were still hungry to score. On the first play of their new drive, Bailey threw a 48-yard score to Branch, and Allen ran in a 6-yard touchdown run around eight minutes later to give the team a 34-17 cushion.
With backup quarterback Eric McGehee in for Waldrop, the Lions put together their best drive of the second half and went 74 yards in six plays for a touchdown carried in by running back Gavin Griffin, the reigning MACCC Offensive Player of the Week, for the game’s last score.
EMCC was outgained 458-281 in offensive yards, including 266-33 in rushing yards. Griffin led the team with 29 yards on 12 carries, and picked up the bulk of those yards on a single run of 25 yards. Allen led the game with 124 yards on 17 carries, Jaylen Foster had 82 yards on 12 totes and Bailey had 17 scrambled for 60 yards. Waldrop was 23-of-43 for 202 yards, and White was his primary target. He hauled in seven catches for 90 yards.
The Lions (2-2) have an opportunity to bounce back today at 2 p.m. when they play at Coahoma Community College. The Tigers went 0-9 last season and are off to a similar start this year as they bring an 0-4 record into the matchup. Offense has been hard to generate for CCC and they have been outscored by an average of 48-9. Last week, the Tigers were shut out in a 45-0 loss to Northwest Mississippi Community College. Coahoma’s best offensive outing came against Jones College on Sept. 4 in which it scored a season-high 20 points in a 51-20 loss. EMCC has owned CCC in their matchups for the past decade and is on a 10-game win streak, including last year’s 62-14 win.
The game will be the Lions’ last of the month as the team is idle next week. EMCC will resume play on Oct. 11 hosting Northeast Mississippi Community College.
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