SCOOBA — Buddy Stephens called himself a “JuCo lifer” after the East Mississippi Community College football team won the school’s first National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championship in 2011.
On a rain-drenched Thursday night at Sullivan-Windham Field, Stephens reached a milestone made for lifers when he won his 88th game, becoming the school’s all-time winningest coach.
The No. 2 Lions gave Stephens a long round of applause seconds after a 47-34 victory against Jones County Junior College in the season opener at Sullivan-Windham Field.
The win pushed Stephens’ record at the school to 88-12. Bob “Bull” Sullivan finished 87-71-4 in two stints (1950-52 and 1956-68).
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Stephens said. “You owe it to some great assistants and some great players. You owe it to (former EMCC President) Dr. (Rick) Young for taking a chance on me.”
Under Stephens, EMCC has won five Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State championships, five bowl games, and three national championships.
EMCC wins without Collins
The EMCC football team planned a postgame dinner at the house of defensive coordinator Cliff Collins.
Collins had plenty of time to prepare as he was suspended for the game by the MACJC.
“You put that in the paper,” Stephens said. “You would have thought we had already paid a big enough of price. Very proud of the defense. They did that without their leader. That says a lot.”
The final game of the 2015 regular season involved a benches-clearing brawl. The game was called before halftime with EMCC leading Mississippi Delta C.C. 48-0.
Players and coaches who were involved were suspended for the opening game of the 2016 seasons. Collins was on the EMCC staff in 2015, but he coached at Jackson State last season.
When he returned to Scooba as the new defensive coordinator, he received a one-game suspension to start this season.
Defensive plan
The plan for JCJC’s aerial attack was clear from the beginning: It wanted to isolate EMCC cornerbacks and trust its wide receivers to go over them. The results were there in the first half, but a halftime adjustment rendered it — and JCJC’s passing game — less effective.
“We had a game plan. We had some bad eyes, some bad coverages in zones,” said EMCC cornerback Duke Upshaw, who was targeted multiple times. “We were expecting it, but when we got tired we had to rely on our technique.”
In the first half, fades and other perimeter isolation routes helped JCJC score two touchdowns and build a completion percentage of nearly 60 percent.
In the second half, JCJC was 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) for an average of 7.25 yards per pass attempt, which was more than a yard less than the first half.
Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson contributed to this report.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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