The state is buzzing with talk about Ole Miss and Mississippi State football.
Both teams are undefeated, ranked nationally third by the Associated Press and each are coming off arguably two of the biggest wins in this state’s history.
The same can not be said when it comes to Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges football.
There was a time when you would talk about the heated South Division race between either Gulf Coast Community College and Jones Junior College or Pearl River Community College. There was a time when somebody knew they had to whip Northwest Community College at Bobby Franklin Field in Senatobia for the North Division title.
There was a time when the MACJC semifinal round featured four ranked teams and both games were going to be well worth the price of admission.
Those days are gone. At least for now anyway.
Top-ranked East Mississippi Community College has again completely sucked the life out of another MACJC race.
Each Thursday night the MACJC has a scoreboard show where it claims to be promoting the best junior college league in the nation. Instead, the MACJC consists of the nation’s best football program, four other schools who are doing the best they can and then nine other schools wallowing in a wasteland.
As has been covered in this space before, this is not EMCC’s fault. They elected to make a commitment to the sport when others refused to do so. EMCC wanted to take their program to the top of the mountain nationally. It has done so rather swiftly.
While it is easy to heap praise on the program at EMCC, the real question is really — What in the heck has happened to the other 13 programs?
EMCC knocked off Jones Junior College 55-0 Saturday for Homecoming in Scooba. Sim Cooley coached at Jones for 30 seasons and never lost by that big a margin. The second half was played with a running clock because the gap between the nation’s No. 1 team (EMCC) and No. 12 team (Jones) was so vast, they would be charged long distance if they tried to call one another.
If the playoffs began today, the two teams would play again in the MACJC state semifinal round. Ah yes, make sure you get your tickets ordered in advance for that.
Let’s look at the spreadsheet for two-time national champion EMCC real quick:
EMCC has won 18 straight games overall. The Lions have only trailed twice in those 18 games Neither deficit took place in the second half.
EMCC has played five games this season with a running clock in the second half due to the lead (38 points or greater by MACJC rule).
EMCC has won 38 of its last 40 games overall (the lone losses came in success to end the 2012 season).
EMCC had never had an undefeated regular season until seventh-year coach Buddy Stephens arrived. The Lions are 12 quarters away from their third such season in four years.
Inside the North Division, the win streak is at nine games with an average margin of victory of 63.3 points.
EMCC (6-0 overall, 3-0 division) will face Holmes (2-4, 1-2) Thursday night in Scooba. EMCC starting quarterback Chad Kelly has completed 147-of-212 passes for 2,051 yards and 24 touchdowns. On the other sideline, Holmes starter Jamario Benson has completed 25-of-70 passes for 279 yards and one touchdowns. This means the two starting quarterbacks have combined to throw 25 touchdowns, with 24 of them being by Kelly for EMCC.
It’s not like Holmes just became roadkill. The Bulldogs won seven straight in the series from 1999 to 2005. EMCC has won the eight meetings since.
With three weeks remaining, EMCC has a one-game division lead over Northwest and Mississippi Delta Community College — the final two opponents on the schedule. On paper, the next two games will be the biggest games of the entire season for the Lions.
Obviously, that means it is time to load up the kids and go to the game, right? Then you find out EMCC beat those two teams by a combined score of 149-7 last season.
From a historical standpoint, there is some drama. EMCC is bidding for its third national championship in four seasons. That has never happened in the rich history of the National Junior College Athletic Association. The all-time record of six national championships by Butler Community College (Kansas) will be shattered if Stephens remains on the EMCC sidelines for the rest of this decade.
Granted, EMCC is just about everything that is right about athletics. The players are first-class. The fans receive an entertaining product in a new, state-of-the art stadium. There are no off-the-field issues. Players come and stay 12 to 24 months at Scooba and almost all of them move on to highly-successful senior college careers. There is a lot to like about EMCC unless you are on the other sidelines.
The goal in competitive athletics is to be better than all of your opponents. These days, EMCC’s North Division opponents stand less than a one percent chance at kickoff.
There are some compelling storylines in the South Division. There are even rumors that Gulf Coast Community College has enough offensive punch to give EMCC a run for its money in this season’s state championship game.
Needless to say Stephens would love to see how his team would react in a tight game. The Lions have not had one since the Mississippi Bowl where it won last season’s national championship by a comfortable 20-point margin when the final horn sounded.
The MACJC would love a compelling state championship game. It would love to have competitive balance. Earlier this season, someone was discussing the EMCC dynasty and said “junior college football comes and goes in cycles … Someone else will be at the top one day.”
Perhaps, it will be another team’s turn one day. It’s hard to fathom though.
Scott Walters is a sports reporter for the Commercial Dispatch. He may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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