No. 3 East Mississippi Community College and No. 7 Northwest Mississippi Community College will both enter Thursday’s matchup in Scooba with the same 4-1 record, but the two teams come into the game on considerably different trajectories.
EMCC is riding a four-game winning streak after being upset by Hinds in the first game of the season. The Lions routed Pearl River and Itawamba and posted solid wins over Mississippi Delta and East Central.
Northwest, meanwhile, has essentially done the opposite of what Buddy Stephens’ team has managed this year. The Rangers won their first four games and were ranked as high as third in the nation before losing 47-42 last week at Holmes.
So the Lions have the momentum — and a 36-game winning streak at Sullivan-Windham Field — on their side heading into Thursday’s matchup. EMCC’s wins over Delta and East Central weren’t close, but they were laden with turnovers and less than convincing. Against the highest-ranked opponent the Lions have faced all season, it’s going to take a better performance than EMCC has delivered the last two weeks.
EMCC’s defense has been excellent all season, never allowing an opponent to score more than 24 points, but Northwest quarterback Jack Walker might be poised to snap that streak. He threw for 398 yards and six touchdowns without being intercepted in the losing effort at Holmes and has 10 touchdown passes against just two interceptions on the season.
If the Lions can force some turnovers out of the redshirt freshman from Madison Central, as they did last week to East Central quarterback Holman Edwards (four interceptions), EMCC should again enjoy success in shutting down a visiting passing game.
The Rangers’ rushing game, though, provides a potent attack similar to that of EMCC. Northwest averages 163.4 yards per game on 4.2 yards per carry, while the Lions average 158.6 yards on 4 yards per carry.
The Rangers also take better care of the ball than the Lions. Walker’s two interceptions compare favorably to Connor Neville’s seven picks, and EMCC has fumbled 15 times (six lost) compared to Northwest’s six (four lost).
That said, though, the passing game is where EMCC is likely to do the most damage. The Lions average 345.6 passing yards per game, while Northwest averages 198.4. The Rangers boast a solid pass defense, but if Neville can avoid interceptions and find receivers like Jason Brownlee or Pervis Frazier, the Lions could rack up scores through the air.
Avoiding those costly turnovers may not sound exceedingly difficult, but giveaways have been EMCC’s biggest bugaboo this season and several times have turned what should be a Lions win going away into a reasonably close game.
Against a solid Northwest team, if the Lions can’t get a handle on the ball, it could turn a close game into an upset victory.
But nothing of the sort has happened in EMCC’s last 36 home games — the Lions seemingly find ways to win no matter how well they play. So until an upset happens, there’s no reason to expect anything Thursday but a 37th consecutive EMCC victory at Sullivan-Windham Field.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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