SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College football returns home this week to face Itawamba Community College. The Lions (1-2) are coming off a 33-14 loss at Northwest Mississippi Community College last weekend, a game in which the offense turned the ball over five times.
The Lions started Ty Keyes at quarterback, but the 2023 NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year didn’t play the whole game. Cole McCarty replaced Keyes after the starter fumbled and threw an interception, going 15-28 for 118 yards.
McCarty didn’t fare much better, however. He was 10-17 passing for 109 yards but threw three interceptions as the Lions fell further and further behind in Senatobia.
The Lions came into the season with options at quarterback, with Keyes appearing the likely starter candidate after a strong 2023. Now, three games in, there is little clarity on the position. Defensively the Lions can only do so much, and it was the late stalled drives and turnovers that allowed the Rangers to pull away on the scoreboard a week ago.
Statistically as a team for the season, East Mississippi is ranked sixth in the MACCC in scoring offense by averaging 28.3 points per game and sits third in total offense with an average of 393.3 total yards per contest. The Lions are fourth among conference team leaders with an average of 176.7 rushing yards per game and fifth in passing with 216.7 yards an outing through the air. Defensively as a team, EMCC stands ninth in scoring defense, fourth in total defense, second in passing defense, and eighth in rushing defense.
Itawamba however appears to be a potential get-right game. The team is 2-1 on the season but has leaned heavily on defense to get there as the offense has yet to score more than 10 points in a single game.
With 365 total yards of offense last week it’s clear the Lions can still move the ball, if they can protect it as well they have a good chance of moving back to .500 in front of their home crowd on Thursday night.
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