SCOOBA — Jason Brownlee caught the fourth-down pass in the middle of a crowd.
He sprinted left, outstripping the Northeast Community College secondary, and put up two fingers as he prepared to cross the goal line. The East Mississippi Community College sophomore receiver was penalized for the gesture — the first time he can remember being called for unsportsmanlike conduct for it.
“Threw the deuces up,” Brownlee said. “They flagged me for that.”
His 35-yard touchdown, which looked unlikely when Brownlee first received the ball with a host of Northeast defenders around him, transformed Saturday’s game. Instead of giving Northeast the ball back in a two-score game, the Lions went ahead 17-0, added on and managed to hold off the Tigers.
EMCC (6-3) finished off Northeast (3-6) by a score of 30-22 in Saturday’s homecoming game, giving the Lions an unlikely berth into the MACJC playoffs. EMCC will travel to face No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast (9-0) next Saturday.
“This is our second chance,” Brownlee said. “We’ve gotta take advantage of that. We’ve gotta finish it off strong.”
EMCC’s offense wasn’t always stellar, and its defense was prone to the occasional lapse, particularly in a troublesome second half. But the Lions did what they needed to do: They handled business at home and keep the season going.
A state playoff appearance wouldn’t have been possible before No. 2 Northwest Mississippi lost to Itawamba at home on Thursday, but the Lions were more than happy to see the upset.
“When Itawamba finally beat Northwest, it sounded like a bomb went off in our dorm because the kids were yelling and screaming,” head coach Buddy Stephens said. “They were excited about having a second opportunity. Not many places in life do you get a second opportunity.”
But the former “Last Chance U” is one of those places, and the Lions showed Saturday they wanted that second chance.
A 23-point first half for EMCC with its defense pitching a shutout for the half was more than enough to get the Lions to the playoffs. After a 29-yard Josh Smith field goal, Keon Moore scored from 46 yards away for EMCC.
Late in the second quarter, after Brownlee raced for his 35-yard score, backup quarterback Jamari Jones just barely reached over the goal line for a 2-yard rushing touchdown. Smith’s kick was blocked, and EMCC went into halftime with a three-score lead that was soon up to four scores.
Julius Coates strip-sacked Northeast quarterback Jack Mangel and returned the fumble for a touchdown, giving EMCC its biggest lead of the day at 30-0.
“I was going, ‘OK, let’s roll,'” Stephens said. “It just happened to be the deciding score.”
Northeast got three unanswered scores to get back in the game in the second half. Mangel found Xavier Malone for a 21-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, and Jay Lofton ran in a 2-yard score in the fourth.
On fourth-and-17 with under three minutes to go, Mangel connected with a wide-open Hayden Brice for a 36-yard score. The ensuing two-point conversion made it a one-score game.
But EMCC recovered the onside kick, and two first-down runs from Zias Perryman effectively sealed the game.
“Whether it’s by 1 or by 21, it’s still a W,” Stephens said.
The Lions know the task that awaits them on Saturday night in Perkinston against the nation’s top junior college football team, but for Stephens, getting the chance is just what EMCC wanted.
“I think all things in the universe are right when Gulf Coast and East Mississippi are playing for some type of championship or to go on somewhere,” Stephens said. “We’re excited and looking forward to that opportunity.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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