SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College is gearing up for another season of football with lofty expectations.
The Lions enter the season ranked No. 2 in the National Junior College Athletic Association preseason poll, the program’s 13th time ranked in the top 10 in the preseason poll under head coach Buddy Stephens. They finished runners-up last year, losing to Iowa Western Community College in the national championship game.
As usual, the Lions feature several players from the surrounding area. It’s something that has helped Stephens build teams in the past, and the talent pool is as strong now as it was when he began.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said of the talent in the area. “I think you can look at the transition that’s going on at West Point seems to be seamless, and Chris Jones and the guys at Starkville have done well, and if you look at Meridian’s junior class right now, they look like some of those junior classes from 10-15 years ago.”
The Lions feature four former Starkville High players, Brandon Short, Jaylon York, Jejuan Davis and Ny’Jadus Roberts-Holloway in the sophomore group returning from the 2023 team. The players won a state title with the Jackets in their senior year, and after coming up short on the national stage they’re hungry to make things right this time.
“It’s nothing now,” Short said of the pressure to get back to the title game. “It’s just the same expectations, win the whole thing. The loss was motivating for sure. I’m trying to get in my role as a leader on the team and just play ball.”
Short forms a duo in the secondary with Davis, and together the two play behind linebacker Roberts-Holloway in what is now an experienced defensive unit. They took their lumps a few times last year, but they have each other’s backs.
“That’s my guy,” Short said of Davis. “He went to Starkville, too, and we’ve been working out together, trying to get better. It’s trust for sure. I’m behind him and I know I got him and he got me.”
“It’s fun,” Davis added. “We’ve got chemistry, we already know what to do and we’ve been together already. It was fun, the hype was fun, and it was different from high school. We’ve got to work harder to finish this time.”
Roberts-Holloway shared the optimism of his teammates about the new season, and more than anything is ready to get back out there. They’re not used to losing after their time with the Jackets and that hasn’t changed since becoming Lions.
“It’s been good, we’re just ready for the season to start and ready to hit some people,” he said. “Just like the old days. We’ve put in work all offseason, grinding every day in the hot sun. We’ve got the pieces that we didn’t have last year and I think that’ll help us in the long run. We’ve grown and I think we’ve got a chip on my shoulder coming from Starkville and knowing I’ve got a lot of the same guys out there that I’ve (had). I’m back out on the field with my boys.”
The Starkville connection extends to the offense as well, and though Jaylon York is the only player on that side of the ball, he goes to work every day against familiar faces in practice
“It helps because we’ve already been playing together for a long time, so we’ve already got that connection,” he said. “I’m the only one on offense but I make them better and they make me better from both sides of the ball.”
York learned from a familiar face as well, with former Jacket and NFL player Raphael Leonard coaching the receivers a year ago. Leonard was a Lion himself a decade ago, and the tradition of talented local players coming through Scooba has continued since.
“We have always said that we are going to build the majority of our team from right here in our district,” Stephens said, “and hopefully we can continue to do that. If we can, obviously we’re getting really good athletes.”
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