BOONEVILLE — East Mississippi Community College sophomore D.J. Law didn’t create the game plan Thursday night.
However, he sure did endorse it.
Behind a strong performance from the offensive line, No. 7 EMCC rushed for 202 yards to run away with a 56-7 victory against Northeast Mississippi C.C. in a Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges North Division game at Tiger Stadium.
With EMCC leading 21-7 at halftime, the game swung decisively when EMCC recovered a NEMCC onside kick to start the second half. From there, the Lions scored four touchdowns in less than 10 minutes.
“They really disrespected us by trying that onside kick,” Law said. “The coaches told us on the sidelines after that we should feel disrespected. They told us to go out there and rip their hearts out because of it. It was a big play. It changed the momentum. We were sleep-walking some in the first half. That got everybody going.”
EMCC recovered the kick attempt on the NEMCC 40-yard line. The Lions covered those 40 yards in a minute, as Wyatt Roberts threw his third and final touchdown pass, a 29-yarder to Dario Robinson.
Two plays later, C.J. Reavis returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown. It was the Lions’ second defensive score of the season. Suddenly, EMCC moved from playing a division game in doubt to a running clock for the third time in four weeks.
EMCC coach Buddy Stephens is seeing stretches of his teams of the past. Now he has to find consistency.
“We have a front-runner mentality, when it’s good, it’s good, when it’s bad, it’s really bad,” Stephens said. “We can’t have that. We have to do a better job of playing consistently. We have to do a better job of practicing consistently, going to class consistently, playing consistently.
“It’s a theme I am getting tired of. We have to do a better job of recruiting, and we will fix that during the offseason. We have some guys that are not playing up to their potential. We have to coach them, and if they don’t respond to coaching, we have to go out and recruit somebody else.”
EMCC had 495 yards of offense, forced three turnovers, and cruised to its fifth-straight win in the series.
EMCC (3-1, 2-0 division) also won its 14th-straight division game dating back to the 2012 regular-season finale. After a 31-24 overtime loss to Copiah-Lincoln C.C. dropped EMCC from the top spot in the national rankings, the team has rebounded by outscoring the last two opponents 125-7.
“We had to realize there were still games to be played and championships to be won,” Law said. “We had not lost a game in a long time around here. None of us on the team had been through a loss before, so we really didn’t know how to respond or react. It was hard at first. The sophomores got the younger guys together and told them we had to keep going.”
EMCC scored on its first two possessions to build a 14-0 lead. Roberts was sharp from the start. Law fumbled on the NEMCC 4 as the team was trying to make it three-straight scores.
From there, NEMCC (0-4, 0-2) drove 96 yards on 17 plays. Backup quarterback Kendrick Doss scored on a 2-yard run.
“Sometimes a 96-yard drive is good,” EMCC defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “These kids needs to experience these things. We had some wrong coverages. We had some wrong reactions. The kids have to learn. They are going to get there.”
Law then took matters into his hands with a spectacular 55-yard touchdown run. With two moves similar to the ones he displayed after the game dancing with the band, Law basically ran into a three-person group tackle, ran back out of it, and zipped down the right sideline for the score.
In the second half, the deluge started after the failed onside kick. Twelve plays were run in the fourth quarter thanks to the MACJC mercy rule.
“We have had more fun the last two weeks,” said EMCC freshman wide receiver Mario Lanier, who starred at Aliceville (Ala.) High School. “In the second half, we had to play like we normally do. I just tried to stay humble and wait for my opportunity.
“That loss (against Co-Lin) opened our eyes. We realized we just can’t come out here and lay our hats down because people are out to beat us every week. The way we practice is how we are going to come out and play. We had to start practicing a whole lot better.”
Lanier had a team-high 83 receiving yards on three catches, including his second touchdown of the season. Law had 10 carries for 127 yards for EMCC’s fifth 100-yard rushing game.
“The bottom line is nobody was going to feel sorry for us,” Law said. “We had to get better fast. We feel like we are the old EMCC again.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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