SCOOBA — An hour south down Highway 45, one of the best junior college football programs in the country is gearing up for another season. East Mississippi Community College, winner of five national championships, is hoping to make another run at glory after falling just short in 2023.
The Lions enter the season ranked No. 2 in the National Junior College Athletic Association preseason poll. It is the program’s 13th time ranked in the top 10 in the preseason poll during head coach Buddy Stephens’ tenure, and it’s a ranking earned from last year’s deep playoff run.
The Lions avenged some early-season losses by winning the state championship in 2023 and playing their way to the national championship game. However, the road ended there with a loss to Iowa Western Community College at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ark. The Lions lost 61-14 to the reigning back-to-back national champions, something that has weighed heavily on them ever since.
“After the absolute beatdown that we took in Arkansas it’s been something you try and put behind you, but also try and keep in front of you so you understand you can’t have bad weeks,” head coach Buddy Stephens said on the team’s media day. “Not if you’re us, because everybody is trying to give you their best game.”
Up first in 2024 is No. 10 ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, a team that beat the Lions 42-17 in the 2023 regular season before becoming just another victim of EMCC’s revenge tour en route to another Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference championship. The loss last season was fuel for the Lions, who are determined not to suffer another embarrassment on opening day.
“Every time everyone says you’ve got a tough schedule, but this is the same schedule we have on a rotation basis in Mississippi. If you go back, it’s the same schedule we had in 2008 and 2009 when we first got here. You want to play the best, it gives you an idea of where you are and prepares you for those other games. You look at the powerhouses like South Panola, Starkville, West Point, I mean Chris Chambless was never scared to play anyone because it got them ready. That’s our big thing, we stumbled early, we made corrections and it got us ready.”
The Lions return 42 players from last year, including quarterback Ty Keyes, who made a surprise return to Scooba this summer after a brief stint at Louisiana Tech.
“Hopefully we can finish the mission this time,” Keyes said. “Going into last year we didn’t get the job done. Hopefully this year everyone can come together as one and we can finish this time.”
EMCC’s No. 1 was also recognized as No. 1 in the nation with the 2023 NJCAA DI Football Offensive Player of the Year award winner, but Stephens says the quarterback role is something he has to earn. Keyes entered a QB competition that featured two new faces, freshman transfers Carter Hankins and Cole McCarty, so there is plenty of push from all three to take charge of the offense.
“It’s really been good,” Stephens said of the competition. “They’ve been good guys, they’re good young men, I like them all and I’m excited to see where it goes. Everybody thinks the job is Ty’s and it’s over, but it’s far from over and we’ve got guys who can pull the trigger.”
Stephens thinks he has three of the five best quarterbacks in the state, so it’s a situation he’s comfortable with regardless of who steps up this year, but also knowing that his guy for next year is in the group as well, with Keyes moving on after the 2024 season.
But for now there is an early chance for someone to take the job for themselves against MGCCC on Thursday. When the season kicks off at 7 p.m. there will be a lot on Stephens’ mind by way of figuring out his team’s strengths and weaknesses going forward, but above all the players want to embrace the early test and position themselves for another memorable campaign.
“Last year we lost the first game of the season,” Keyes said. “This year I’m hoping we can win every game. We’re going to take it one game at a time, one play at a time and try to come together as one.”
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