SCOOBA — What looked to be a comfortable homecoming win for No. 11 East Mississippi Community College turned into a tense final few minutes at Sullivan-Windham Field in Scooba.
Leading 38-24 with less than two minutes left, things were all but wrapped up until a late touchdown from No. 15 Northeast Mississippi CC made it 38-31 with 21 seconds left.
Then came the kickoff, an onside attempt that caught the Lions off-guard and allowed the Tigers to recover with one final chance at the end zone.
A late flag, however, reversed the call, as the officials determined the ball was recovered one yard short of the required 10, and the Lions ran out the clock with a kneel down.
“In practice, we always go at it,” running back Jaylen Jenkins said. “We’re used to taking those punches. This is a tough team.”
Saturday afternoon’s win was marred by some postgame chatter, and an altercation nearly broke out in the handshake line before both teams were quickly escorted away by their respective coaching staffs.
It was a rather fitting end to a game marred by a controversial call on the onside kick and a defensive collapse in the fourth quarter; the Lions (5-2) were leading 38-17 with less than 10 minutes left.
Northeast gained life late, led by former Oak Hill Academy product Cameron Dill, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in the loss.
“It was a tough game,” Dill said. “We knew that coming in. I really wanted to finish it, but we just didn’t get it done. We should have battled back a little bit sooner.”
EMCC quarterback Ty Keyes struggled with accuracy, throwing two interceptions, but still threw for 275 yards and a touchdown along with two rushing touchdowns, accounting for more than 300 yards of total offense.
Jenkins carried the freight as well on the ground, with 10 rushes for 90 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
In total, EMCC rattled off 497 yards of total offense, including a season-high 222 rushing yards.
“I have to give it up to my O-line,” Jenkins said. “All week in practices and run-throughs, we preached the run game. This week and last week, too, I had two touchdowns, so I have to give the praise to the O-line. I love all of them.”
The Lions’ defense remains a question mark with two games remaining, as they’ve allowed 30 or more points in two of their last four games.
Saturday felt more like a three-quarter performance than a full four-quarter performance, but with two strong performances against Coahoma CC and Northwest Mississippi CC sprinkled in-between, EMCC has shown they can put together a complete performance.
The Lions just need to keep that up for the next two games to maintain an outside shot of making the NJCAA playoffs.
“It’s one game at a time,” Jenkins said. “With Gulf Coast losing last week, it put us back in a spot looking to go to the national playoffs. Right now, we’re just taking it one game at a time, gotta win, one-by-one.”
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