The bounce-back took place rather quickly.
After seeing its 28-game Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division win streak come to an end, No. 5 East Mississippi Community College went back to work and began building a new streak.
EMCC scored 31 points in the first nine minutes of play and celebrated Homecoming in style with a 72-7 win over Coahoma Community College Saturday at Sullivan-Windham Field.
“Eagerly anticipating the reaction to a loss,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said. “A lot of people were down. After we lost the last (division) game (in 2012), we came back and won 28 in a row. I think you will see that kind of determination here. We didn’t play our best game (in a loss at Northwest Mississippi Community College). Where you go after that is up to the team.”
Where EMCC went Saturday was the end zone — 10 times. The Lions did it all kinds of way with four rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns, two interception-return touchdowns and two blocked-kick touchdowns.
EMCC (7-1, 5-1 MACJC North Division) will try to continue the positive vibes in the regular-season finale against No. 7 Hinds Community College (6-1, 5-1 MACJC South Division).
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Joe Renfroe Stadium in Raymond.
“The coaches told us that we still had a lot to play for,” EMCC quarterback Lindsey Scott, Jr. said “Our ultimate goals of winning a state championship and winning a national championship were still in play. You feel better when you control your own destiny. However, we lost that chance. That doesn’t mean we aren’t a good football team and that we can’t still reach our end goals. Everybody knows how hard we have worked and we will keep that going.”
EMCC moved to No. 5 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national rankings. EMCC was No. 1 and did control its own destiny until the 61-38 loss at Northwest. That loss dropped EMCC to seventh. The win over Coahoma moved the squad back to fifth.
The climb could continue with the possibility of wins over three more Top 8 teams.
EMCC has clinched its ninth playoff berth in 10 seasons under Stephens. If No. 3 Northwest Mississippi Community College beats Northeast Mississippi Community College Thursday night, EMCC will open the four-team MACJC playoffs with a first-round game at No. 8 Jones County Junior College. The other semifinal would be Hinds at Northwest.
Jones beat Hinds 41-36 Saturday in Ellisville to win the South Division. In the regular season, EMCC held off Jones, 47-34.
A best-case scenario for EMCC would be wins over Hinds and then Jones and Northwest in the playoffs. Not only would EMCC finish with those three Top 8 wins, each of those wins would come on the road.
“You have to learn from losses,” EMCC sophomore wide receiver Mike Williams said. “We know we were a better team than we showed against Northwest. So the goal is to play them again and to have a better performance. I think we were a little dazed after the loss. When it was time to come back to practice, it was time to go back to work.”
Coahoma proved the right tonic for EMCC. The Lions led 59-0 at halftime and cruised to a 23rd straight win in the series.
“Our mental focus was great,” Stephens said. “The guys played with that chip on your shoulder you need to have. They had that swagger back. The biggest thing is not letting an opponent hang around in a game you are supposed to win. We did a great job of controlling things early.”
Now EMCC will try to control the up-tempo passing attack of Hinds. Even though the Eagles have some of the state’s top recruits on that side of the ball, the numbers have not been overwhelming.
Hinds scored 16 points in a 16-15 win over Copiah-Lincoln Community College. In the season opener, Hinds and Northwest were scoreless in the fourth quarter when play was halted due to weather.
“The biggest thing is staring fast,” Scott said. “We have been able to do that on the road this season. If we keep that up, we will be just fine.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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