As the clock hit all zeros, Hayden Houpt’s kick from 23 yards sailed between the uprights to lift East Mississippi Community College to a thrilling 31-28 homecoming victory over Northeast Mississippi Community College Saturday in Scooba.
The mayhem began late in the fourth quarter when the Tigers were trailing 28-20, and went 69 yards in nine plays and scored on a 2-yard pass from quarterback Jeremiah Harrel to Brooks Wallis. Harrel then fired a pass to Makyi Reed-Jones for the 2-point conversion to tie the game with one minute left to play. After holding on to the squib kick from the Tigers on the following kickoff attempt, the Lions, who trailed the entire first half, methodically chewed up 44 yards in six plays to set up Houpt’s game-winning kick.
NMCC controlled the game for the most part, tacking on an early 13-yard touchdown run by Qua Middlebrook for the game’s first score and a 40-yard field goal from Freddy Lopez in the second half for a 10-7 halftime lead that broke a tie after Gavin Griffin’s 9-yard run got the Lions on the board early in the second quarter.
Desmond Johnson rumbled in a 2-yard run to pull EMCC ahead in the third quarter, but its lead was short lived. On the Tigers’ following drive, quarterback Caden Greer completed a pass to JT Beasley, who turned on the afterburners and ran in a 95-yard touchdown to pull NMCC on top once more. EMCC’s response was to score two more times. Griffin ran in a 1-yard touchdown, and quarterback Trey Irving III followed up with a 14-yard scoring run. With 6:02 left to play in the game, Lopez drilled a 32-yard field goal to cut the Tigers’ deficit to 28-20 before the late-game mayhem ensued.
The Lions’ rushing attack produced 224 yards and four touchdowns, led by Griffin’s 115 yards and two scores on 19 carries. Irving picked up 94 yards on 13 carries and had one score and threw for 154 yards on 15-of-20 passing.
The Lions defensive front proved to be a problem for the Tigers as it sacked their quarterback duo a total of six times for a loss of 31 yards and held them to 6-of-16 on third down conversions. Davier Bishop had two of those sacks from his defensive end spot and also had five solo stops, three for a loss of 14 yards – an effort that earned him the MACCC’s Player of the Week honor alongside teammate Houpt.
Now at 4-2 overall and 3-1 in MACCC North games, the Lions are back in action at 7 p.m. today hosting Pearl River Community College. The Wildcats (1-5) are in the midst of a four-game losing streak and haven’t had a victory since a 48-42 thriller against Itawamba Community College on Sept. 4. In their last time out, they were held to just one score in a 39-7 defeat by Copiah-Lincoln Community College on Oct. 9.
Defensively, PRCC has one of weakest units in the MACCC, giving up 39.5 points a game, which is the third most in the conference, and has the league’s worst rushing defense, which gives up an average of 256.8 yards a game. EMCC’s defense is eighth in points allowed per game at 24.5 points, but brings the fourth best rushing attack, which has carved up 1,142 yards this season. Griffin’s 628 rushing yards are the second most in the MACCC and he leads the conference with 10 touchdowns.
The Wildcats’ offense is primarily predicated on passing with three different quarterbacks all seeing action this season. Reese Mooney leads the team with 654 passing yards and five touchdown throws, and receivers Howard Kinchen and Kedrick Triplett both have snagged four touchdown passes on the season.
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