The No. 1 East Mississippi Community College football team received its official travel itinerary Monday night.
No. 1 EMCC (11-0) will face No. 2 Garden City C.C. (10-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship game.
For the first time, the game will be played at Carrie Smith Stadium on the campus of Pittsburg State in Pittsburg, Kansas. This will be the first year of a three-year run at the stadium.
CBS Sports Network also will televise the game nationally for the first time.
“Incredible accomplishment to be back in the championship game,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said. “These group of kids have worked hard and earned that trip. An undefeated team from our league (Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges) will always be in position to play in this game. It’s an honor to be representing our league.”
The NJCAA released its final rankings Monday afternoon. EMCC earned 15 of 17 first-place votes and held a 16-point lead over Garden City (369-353) in the computer rankings. Garden City secured the other two first-place votes.
This season marked the first time EMCC was ranked No. 1 in all 12 rankings.
“That may be the biggest testament to the consistency of this team,” Stephens said. “They have played with the bull’s eye on their back the entire season. For the sophomores, last year’s (national) championship was not enough. This team is striving to make it two straight.”
EMCC captured its seventh MACJC State championship with a 19-14 victory against then-No. 4 Jones College on Saturday in Ellisville. Quarterback TyQuan Ulmer threw two touchdown passes to Dontario Drummond, while Deon McIntosh eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season and scored the team’s other touchdown.
On defense, the Lions forced a season-best six turnovers.
“This team wanted to save its best performance for a championship setting,” EMCC sophomore defensive back JaQuez Akins said. “Last season, the defense played to the best of its capabilities. This season, everybody has bought in and put more time in to make sure we are playing like a championship team.
EMCC enters the national championship game allowing a nation-best 11.4 points per game. Five opponents were held to seven points or less.
EMCC, which improved to 7-0 in state championship games, will try to move to 7-0 in bowl games and 5-0 in national championship games under Stephens.
Garden City captured the Jayhawk League regular-season championship for the second time in three years. The BroncBusters won twice by three points and four times by eight points or less.
This will be the final game for coach Jeff Sims, who is headed to Missouri Southern University. Sims guided Garden City to the 2016 national championship.
Charles West has eight 100-yard rushing games to lead the Garden City.
No. 5 Jones, No. 8 Northwest Mississippi C.C, No. 11 Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C., and No. 18 Copiah-Lincoln C.C. also represented the MACJC in the final poll.
On Tuesday, Jones is expected to accept an invitation to the Mississippi Bowl when the NJCAA releases all bowl pairings for this season. That game played host to EMCC’s last three national championships.
Meanwhile, EMCC will pack a 16-game winning streak for Kansas. EMCC has played two previous national championship games as the No. 1 team.
“It’s go time now,” EMCC sophomore wide receiver Kalem Reddix said. “We got one more week to be 1-0.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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