The Lions of East Mississippi Community College are back on the field at 7 p.m. tomorrow hosting Hinds Community College in Scooba for their first home game of the early season – and with it comes an opportunity to rid the sour taste left in their mouths after last Thursday’s season-opening 41-21 loss at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
EMCC struggled to stamp out the aerial might of the Bulldogs, who got 426 passing yards and two touchdown throws from quarterback Landon Varnes, en route to 547 yards of total offense – but it was the Lions who struck first. Quarterback Rodge Waldrop threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Jackson to finish the team’s first drive of the game, but their score was immediately equalized by Varnes, who punched in a 3-yard touchdown run, and the team followed up by missing their PAT attempt.
EMCC responded with a 12-play 84-yard drive that ended with John Peterson running in a 2-yard score just before halftime for the 14-6 lead, but then the Bulldogs turned their offense up a notch. Varnes fired a 62-yard pass to Mason Beverly for a touchdown, and another scoring toss, this one from five yards, gave MGCCC a 20-14 lead in the second quarter it never relinquished.
Alan Wood carried in runs of 14 yards and two yards for Bulldogs, before Gavin Griffin got the Lions back into the end zone on a 2-yard scramble. Woods broke free for a 45-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter for the final score of the game.
Griffin led EMCC with 91 yards on the ground on 22 carries, and Jay Stevenson had four runs for 20 yards. Waldrop went 24-of-36 for 240 yards in his debut for the Lions, and Noreel White led the team with 11 catches for 101 yards. Tyler Henderson and Beverly proved to be problems at wide out for EMMC. Henderson posted 186 yards on 10 grabs, and Beverly was targeted five times for 126 yards.
Linebacker Ja’Cari Owens led the Lions’ defense with 11 tackles, and Kindal Moorehead posted one sack.
Hinds is coming to Sullivan-Windham Field under the guidance of first-year head coach Chris Jones, who joined the Eagles after leading Starkville’s football program for eight years, winning the 2022 Class 7A state championship and making a total of three appearances in the title game. Jones and the Eagles are flying high after earning a 34-7 win over Itawamba Community College last Thursday, in which Hinds quarterback Jaylon Ruffin threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns and led the team with 79 yards rushing on seven scrambles. The team picked up 22 first downs as it posted 507 yards of total offense – more than double of Itawamba’s 232 yards.
Defensively, Hinds held the Indians scoreless until the fourth quarter and got two sacks, one from 6-foot-3 defensive tackle Caleb Bryant and one from linebacker Jermar McCarter.
Lions soccer
In other sports for EMCC, the Lions’ women’s soccer team began the season last Friday with a 9-1 loss at St. Charles. The Lions were held to only two shots on goal, and Bella Miller’s kick with 38 minutes left in the first half fell true for the team’s lone score. The Cougars tacked on eight goals in the first half and added one more in the second to close the game.
EMCC was back in action on Saturday in a 4-0 loss at Mineral Area College, as the Cardinals notched two goals in the first half and two more in the second. Anna Riley Kelly had the only shot on goal for the Lions. EMCC (0-2) is back home at 6 p.m. Friday for the EMCC Women’s Soccer Alumni Game, and hosts Hinds on Sept. 12 to begin MACCC play.
The Lions’ men’s soccer season started last Friday with a 3-2 loss at St. Charles.
The Cougars led 1-0 at the break when Caden Pearsell drilled a ball into the net on the assist by Roberth Campos to tie the game. St. Charles added two more goals to pull ahead before Pearsell found the net once again just before the final whistle. On Saturday, EMCC tied 3-3 with Mineral Area College in its second game of the season. Pearsell scored a goal and Michael Godshaw had two. The Lions (0-1-1) open home play Friday at 3 p.m. by hosting Louisiana State University-Eunice.
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