SCOOBA — Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Acker knew he was joining a championship program when he signed to play football and baseball at East Mississippi Community College.
Still, he never expected this much success.
“They told when they recruited me, that we won ballgames here,” Acker said. “They told me we would win championships. I never thought it would be 19 (wins) in a row. That’s a little unreal. But I really hate losing, so what’s happening is really fine by me.”
EMCC won its 19th-straight game Thursday night with a 49-0 rout of Holmes C.C. in a Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges North Division game at Sullivan-Windham Field.
EMCC (7-0, 4-0 division) celebrated its eighth week as the nation’s top-ranked team by posting its third-straight shutout. The Lions recorded a school-record five shutouts in their run to a second National Junior College Athletic Association national championship a year ago.
“We are on a mission,” EMCC sophomore linebacker Justin Lucas said. “We take a lot of pride in our defense. We want to be the best defensive team in the nation.”
EMCC has allowed 38 points. Holmes (2-5, 1-3) punted six times, fumbled three times, and turned the ball over on downs three times. The Bulldogs didn’t complete a pass and managed slightly better than 2 yards per rush (105 yards on 50 carries).
“We decided we were going to give up certain things,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said. “In this case, we really wanted Holmes to throw the ball. That was going to be the way they had to beat us. We think our secondary is pretty good. Hopefully, we will continue to play as well as we have on defense the last three weeks.”
EMCC has held five-straight opponents to fewer than 200 yards offense. A 13-yard fumble return touchdown by sophomore linebacker William Lloyd gave the Lions their sixth defensive touchdowns of the season.
On offense, EMCC shuffled the lineup with receivers Kameron Myers and Sammie Burroughs out with season-ending injuries. Myers had a team-best 31 receptions before tearing an anterior cruciate ligament last Saturday in a 55-0 victory against Jones County Junior College.
“We really played out of sync all night,” Stephens said. “We have to jell a little bit on offense. We have to figure out what we are doing. We are not being physical enough. We have some players just not doing what they are supposed to be doing. We need to get to the point where we can run it and pass it effectively.
“We are going to continue to work to get where we need to be. I am not scared of anybody we play. It’s all about us. I am more scared about not executing right.”
The MACJC instituted a mercy rule this season. When a team holds a second-half lead of 38 or more points, the remainder of the game uses a running clock. EMCC averaged better than 80 plays per game last season but has run nowhere near close to that number this season, since six of seven victories have included a running clock.
In an effort to get his offense more work, EMCC tried and recovered an onsides kick with a 42-0 lead in the third quarter. Still, the Lions only managed 18 second-half plays. Reserve quarterback Wyatt Roberts looked sharp in a 57-yard, seven-play scoring march in the fourth quarter.
EMCC scored on its first two possessions, with Preston Baker scoring on a 1-yard run and catching a 9-yard pass from Chad Kelly. The offense then flat-lined and went four possessions without scoring — the longest stretch of futility in the winning streak.
“We came out first two drives and did good,” Baker said. “After that, it all went downhill. We didn’t impress ourselves on offense. We got room to get better, and we got to make sure we do that. We will keep working on our mistakes and get ready for Northwest.”
EMCC righted the ship with two critical scores in the final 5 minutes, 19 seconds of the half. Kelly hit Allenzae Staggers on a 9-yard touchdown and Desmond Goss on a 15-yard touchdown for a 28-0 halftime lead.
Despite being “out of sync,” Kelly was 26 of 41 for 283 yards and his 25th, 26th, and 27th touchdowns. Acker had seven catches for 171 yards.
“We got a good relationship (Kelly and receivers),” Acker said. “We all talk a lot. You really have to be on the same page with your quarterback. We are catching passes from him, so we make sure we throw the ball around a lot.”
EMCC will face Northwest (3-4, 3-1) Thursday night in Senatobia. The game will decide the division title, assuming Northwest defeats winless Coahoma C.C. a week later. For EMCC, it would be the sixth division title in seven seasons.
Last season, EMCC scored a school-record 51 points in the third quarter in a 79-7 rout.
“Each week the goal is to be 1-0,” Acker said. “I learned that my first week of practice. Whatever it takes to be 1-0, that is what we are supposed to do. We have been 1-0 19 times now since I have been here, and that feels great.”
n Itawamba C.C. 38, Northeast Mississippi C.C.: At Fulton, Richard McQuarley averaged almost 12 yards per carry on his way to a 246-yard performance Thursday night to help the Indians improve to 3-4 and 3-2 in the MACJC North Division.
Northeast Mississippi (2-5, 2-3) took a three-point lead early in the second quarter that held until McQuarley broke a 44-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left in the half. ICC held its 17-13 lead until late in the third quarter when McQuarley scored on a 6-yard run with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter.
McQuarley had two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to give ICC a 38-13 with 2:43 remaining.
Former Columbus High School standout Trace Lee threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Khalid Kornegay and a 12-yard pass to Donta Armstrong.
The victory keeps the Indians’ playoff hopes alive. ICC will travel Moorhead to take on Mississippi Delta at 2 p.m. Saturday Oct. 18.
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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