SENATOBIA — Everitt Cunningham and Terence Cherry played football together at West Point High School.
Their one-year gap in age as teammates on the East Mississippi Community College football team has put the defensive linemen into a teacher-student type scenario.
On Thursday night at Bobby Franklin Field, No. 1 EMCC turned in 10 sacks in a 34-6 victory against No. 2 Northwest Mississippi C.C. in a Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division matchup before a standing-room only crowd at Bobby Franklin Field.
Cunningham was in on three of the first five, while Cherry got in on No. 9.
After Cherry’s sack, the defense hustled back to the bench area on EMCC’s sideline. While awaiting instruction, Cherry broke into a dance routine that took him from one side of his teammates to the other.
“We told him no dancing until he got a sack,” said Cunningham, a sophomore. “He earned it.”
On this night, there was plenty of sacking and plenty of reasons to dance, too. EMCC, which was playing without starting quarterback Vijay Miller and played most of the game without two offensive linemen, did most of the damage with arguably its best game in four seasons.
EMCC (6-0, 3-0) held Northwest (5-1, 2-1) to 98 yards of offense and forced four turnovers. With 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Northwest Mississippi C.C. had run 56 offensive plays for 56 yards.
A year ago, Northwest Mississippi C.C. scored 127 points against EMCC in two meetings.
With the win, EMCC moved into the driver’s seat for a ninth North Division championship in coach Buddy Stephens’ 11 seasons at the school. The Lions also strengthened their hold on the nation’s top spot in the rankings for a seventh-straight week.
EMCC won for the 11th time in the last 13 meetings against one of the state’s bluebloods.
After the game, Stephens was so overcome by emotion he yielded the stage to offensive coordinator David Boykin and defensive coordinator Cliff Collins.
“This is pretty much how we planned it,” Collins said. “I’m not totally sure what a perfect game on defense looks like, but that was close. Just an incredible buy-in during the meetings this week. The guys were ready to go.”
Michigan State transfer quarterback Messiah deWeaver was 20-for-30 for 169 yards in his third start of the season for the Lions. He threw three interceptions. However, the ground game picked up the slack, as Notre Dame transfer Deon McIntosh rushed for 106 yards and two scores.
EMCC struck quickly with a four-play, 61-yard drive on its second possession. McIntosh felt the early pressure to deliver and responded by breaking two tackles for a 36-yard run. He then scored on a 3-yard run.
EMCC then scored on a punt block for a third-straight game. Jacob Anderson had the block, while Braden Boykin made the recovery in the end zone for a 13-0 lead.
“Being 6-0 is great,” coach Boykin said. “We wanted so start fast. A lot of things to clean up on offense, and this is not where we need to be at the end. However, a gutsy effort against a great football team.”
Northwest Mississippi C.C. answered with Braden Smith’s 46-yard punt return for a touchdown in the final minutes of the first quarter.
Other than a stirring halftime show, that was it for the home team.
“We got punched in the mouth last year here,” said EMCC sophomore defensive back JaQuez Akins, who had a 79-yard interception return touchdown to finish the scoring. “Regardless of who won the game, we knew we were going to come out and punch first. Turns out, we punched all night. I like that.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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