SCOOBA – Having already secured the MACCC North Division’s No. 1 seed for the upcoming MACCC Football Playoffs, the eighth-ranked and reigning MACCC champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College will close out the regular season Thursday evening by playing host to Mississippi Delta on the Scooba campus. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at EMCC’s Sullivan-Windham Field.

Riding a current four-game winning streak after most recently closing out an unbeaten month of October with last week’s 31-17 road win over Itawamba, the EMCC Lions (6-2, 5-0 MACCC North) will look to outright claim their 11th MACCC North Division football title under the guidance of head coach Buddy Stephens. A win over Delta on Thursday would also complete EMCC’s 10th unbeaten division slate since the 2008 season.

The MACCC Football Semifinals will take place on Saturday, Nov. 11, with the MACCC Championship Game scheduled for Nov. 18. The EMCC Lions will play host to the No. 2 seed out of the MACCC South Division in the semifinals, while the winner of Thursday’s Northeast-Northwest contest will secure the MACCC North’s No. 2 seed and travel to the MACCC South Division’s top-seeded team for the semis.

Ranked second among NJCAA Division I team statistical leaders in both passing offense and touchdown passes, East Mississippi also currently stands third nationally in scoring offense and fifth in total offense.

Defensively as a team, East Mississippi has recorded 67 tackles behind the line of scrimmage this season, including 33 quarterback sacks divided among 16 different defenders. In addition, Lion defensive backs Bakari McCall (3 INTs for 168 return yds), Shannon Blair (3-102) and Tyrane Stewart (2-0) have combined for eight pass interceptions for 270 total return yards, including three pick-sixes.

EMCC head football coach Buddy Stephens, now in his 16th year as head coach of the Lions, owns a career overall record of 139-23, including an 81-8 career mark in MACCC North Division contests. Mississippi Delta currently stands as one of four MACCC schools that Stephens remains undefeated against as EMCC’s head coach. Thursday’s EMCC-MDCC contest will mark the Trojans’ first football visit to Scooba since the 2018 season. The previous three series meetings between the teams were all played in Moorhead.

Guided by second-year head football coach Tavares Johnson, Mississippi Delta is 2-6 overall and 1-4 in MACCC North Division play after earning a 36-33 upset road win over previously No. 4 Jones College this past Saturday in Ellisville. Delta receiver Sirr Trotter collected MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honors after catching five passes for 177 yards, including touchdown grabs of 98 and 26 yards. The Trojans’ other victory this season was a 21-19 division road win at Coahoma on Sept. 21.