SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College played nine regular-season football game this season. The top-ranked Lions won all of them.
Many of the games resembled Thursday night when EMCC blanked Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges North Division rival Mississippi Delta Community College 65-0 before a near-capacity crowd at Sullivan-Windham Field.
“Now it is on to the second season,” EMCC sophomore running back Preston Baker said. “That is when everything gets a little more serious. On offense, we hadn’t been real good the last couple of weeks, so this is really a great way to go into the playoffs.”
In the first eight decades of playing football, EMCC never had an undefeated regular season. The Lions have accomplished the feat three times in four seasons.
“We understand what has just happened,” EMCC seventh-year coach Buddy Stephens said. “It is not something we take lightly. Each week, the players have worked hard, prepared hard to win that particular game on either that particular Thursday or Saturday. We feel fortunate we were able to do just that.
“We still have progress to be made. However, we will keep working hard to win three more games.”
EMCC (9-0, 6-0 division) will play host to No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast (8-1, 5-1 MACJC South Division) in the opening round of the MACJC playoffs at 2 p.m. Nov. 1. Stephens has carried EMCC to the postseason in each of his seven seasons as coach. The Lions clinched their sixth North Division title in the past seven seasons last week against Northwest Mississippi C.C.
Still, there was much to play for Thursday night. EMCC needed to solidify its No. 1 ranking in hopes of repeating as national champions. The Lions have won 41 of their last 43 games, including 23 of the last 24 games against division competition.
“This team really needed a good night on offense,” EMCC sophomore quarterback Chad Kelly said. “The coaches always talk about starting fast. We had not started as fast as we would have liked the last couple of games.”
EMCC started as fast as possible Thursday night. The Lions took the opening kickoff 73 yards on six plays. Kelly threw the first of his five touchdown passes — a 30-yarder to Camion Patrick — to cap the drive.
EMCC also set the tone on defense on Mississippi Delta’s first snap. As Marco Montgomery sacked quarterback Jaylon Daniels in the end zone, Daniels threw an illegal forward pass, which meant a safety.
The Lions then took the ensuing free kick 60 yards on 10 plays. Kelly hit Isaac Johnson for a 12-yard touchdown. The lead was 15-0 less than five minutes into the game and the rout was on.
“We had the type of scoring drives we like to have — each was around two minutes,” Stephens said. “Our efficiency was good on third downs (seven of the first eight). There were a lot of positives.”
EMCC had its best first half of the season with 433 yards. The Lions led 46-0 at the intermission. EMCC played a game with a stretch of running clock (due to a 38-point mercy rule) for the eighth time this season.
“The last two weeks, the offense didn’t execute up to its capability,” said Baker, who had a season-high three rushing touchdowns in the second half. “We wanted to come out here and finish some drives. It is very hard to go 9-0. Any football team that wins all of the games that it players has done a great job.”
The EMCC defense delivered its usual standout performance. The Lions matched a school record with their fifth shutout. This season, the shutouts have come in succession. EMCC hasn’t allowed a point in its last 22 quarters.
EMCC scored in 35 of 36 quarters this season.
Mississippi Delta (3-5, 2-4) was held to 50 yards of offense. EMCC ran 74 plays, compared to 37 for Mississippi Delta. The Lions had 32 first downs, while the Trojans had three.
After the quarterback hurry by Montgomery led to a safety, EMCC scored its eighth defensive touchdown of the season later in the 29-point first-quarter when Lorenzo Phillips rambled 11 yards with a fumble recovery. Former Columbus Falcon Quan Latham also blocked a punt — his third blocked kick of the season, and fourth of his career.
“You have to take your hat to all of the defensive coaches,” Stephens said. “We are playing defense at a level never seen before. They can keep us from scoring (by using the mercy rule for clock operation), but it is up to us to keep the other team from scoring. We have been pretty darn good at that.”
EMCC had 557 yards of offense. Kelly was 23 of 33 for 293 yards and touchdowns 31 through 35 for the season. Johnson had nine catches for 94 yards, including his second, third, and fourth touchdowns. Patrick and D.J. Law had the other touchdown receptions.
Yet those numbers will mean nothing when Mississippi Gulf Coast and EMCC renew one of the MACJC’s best rivalries for the first time this season.
“It’s the playoffs, so everybody starts over at 0-0,” Baker said. “We still have more to prove. This is going to be fun.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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