SCOOBA — One point.
That was the difference in East Mississippi Community College football’s MACCC semifinal game against Hinds Community College.
After allowing a touchdown on the first drive of overtime, EMCC found its way to the end zone, cutting the score to 42-41 before the extra point.
However, the Lions wanted to end the game then and there, going for a two-point conversion that ultimately failed, giving Hinds a 42-41 upset over the No. 1 team in the nation. Since that point, this team has been hungry to return to that point and is focused on one task: getting back to the top.
“I think we’ve got a really good group of guys, a lively bunch to say the least, a talented bunch,” head coach Buddy Stephens said. “I’m excited about the competition that we have this year, a lot of competition at a lot of different positions. That makes you good, makes you better every day.”
Everything was clicking on all cylinders for EMCC last season, having gone 9-0 in the regular season, giving up more than 10 points just twice before the postseason.
The Lions finished the 2021 season averaging 423 yards of total offense and scoring nearly 41 points a game. On the defensive side of the ball, they held opponents to just under 13 points a game and 230 yards of total offense.
Those kinds of numbers are what made EMCC one of the best teams in the nation and the No. 1 junior college in Mississippi heading into the postseason. In the same token, heading into this season, those are the things to build upon for a hopeful title run this season.
“I think the guys have really used that unfinished business mantra,” Stephens said. “It’s all about execution on offense and defense. It’s all about the little things.”
While last season had itself a disappointing end, there’s a lot to be excited about with this year’s team, one that’s returning a number of big-time players from last season.
On the receiving side of things, last year’s leading receiver and former Starkville High School star Joshua Aka is returning to the fold for his sophomore year with the Lions.
His presence will help to bring stability to an offense that has several new faces competing for a starting spot — including former LSU and Memphis quarterback Peter Parrish and another Starkville product in Jaquez Harris.
“This year, I’m expecting to build off of what we did last year and ultimately, just finishing the job,” Aka said. “Coming up short by one point against Hinds, that definitely hurt, but each year, we got a lot of guys coming in with experience. I definitely feel very confident on how we’re going to be approaching this year.”
Unfinished business is unquestionably EMCC’s mantra this season, and it starts as soon as the players exit the locker room to go out to Sullivan-Windham Field, either for a game or practice.
Right before they leave, they see a big ‘1-0’ that’s posted on the set of doors leading to the field, the mindset of this team week in and week out. The objective for this program is simple: to go 1-0 every week the entire season.
“If we’re 1-0 at the end of each week, everything else will take care of itself,” Stephens said. “The maturation process of the players, doing things right, being able to add things to the playbook, all those things will improve. My big thing right now is just let’s be as good as we can be today, let’s be a little bit better tomorrow, and let’s just keep building on it.”
The success of EMCC in recent years has been significant, with the Lions winning five national championships since 2011.
However, this program has had a dry spell in recent years, not winning a national championship since 2018. The vibe around EMCC right now is that aforementioned hunger of wanting to add another trophy to the trophy case.
There’s plenty of local reinforcements hoping to do that, with 11 former Starkville players and a number of former players from the Golden Triangle region currently on the roster.
Those that have been in the program already, like sophomore and former Columbus High School standout Ethan Conner, know what it’s going to take to repeat an undefeated regular season as the top-ranked junior college in the country.
“I feel like we had a great summer,” Conner said. “I think last year motivated us a lot. We’re looking at the bigger picture trying to get back to the final game.”
The road to the national championship for EMCC begins at 7 p.m. Sept. 1, the season and home opener against Copiah-Lincoln Community College.
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