SENATOBIA — When East Mississippi Community College hired Buddy Stephens as its football coach, a Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges North Division championship was a big deal.
The Lions have advanced well past that type of championship. These days, state and national titles are the norm.
Still, EMCC took time to celebrate Thursday night.
Top-ranked EMCC wrapped up its sixth
division championship in the past seven seasons with a 49-0 victory against Northwest Mississippi C.C. at Bobby Franklin Field.
“Winning any championship is a big deal,” EMCC sophomore wide receiver Isaac Johnson said. “We are really proud to be North Division champions. A lot of hard work has gotten this team to this point. Nobody around the state works harder than we do. We feel like we will be playing four more games, so this is just a stop on the road. It’s a championship, though, and we will have fun with it.”
EMCC (8-0, 5-0 division) won its 11th-straight game in division and 20th-straight game overall. The Lions have won four-straight division championships under Stephens, compiling a 22-1 record in the division in that run.
“There are some mighty fine football teams in the MACJC North Division,” Stephens said. “These are teams we have gone to battle with decades. To be able to come out and win consistently in this division is a testament of our program.”
The game also was a testament of how far the once-proud Northwest program has fallen. The Rangers won one game a year ago but appear on the upswing. Northwest (3-5, 3-2) can secure the division’s second playoff spot by beating winless Coahoma C.C. next week.
On this night, though, Northwest was no match for EMCC. The Rangers committed five turnovers and also had a punt blocked. Sophomore defensive back Quan Latham had the punt block on Northwest’s second punt.
The former Columbus Falcon claimed he also got the first punt. He said that kick grazed his fingertips. Latham officially has three blocked kicks.
“It was something we saw on film,” Latham said. “Coaches have been on me about opening my hands when I dive. I had my hands open but still tipped the ball (on the first punt). The next time I made sure to do it with the right technique and got the kick clean.”
William Lloyd had a 25-yard interception return for EMCC, which was the squad’s sixth interception return for touchdown this season. Demetrius Cain and Jacolbi Heard had the other interceptions. Lloyd and Zavia Forshee had fumble recoveries.
It all added up to another monster night for the defense, which recorded its fourth-straight shutout. The Lions haven’t allowed a point in their last 18 quarters.
“The (defensive) coaches did a great job of getting our guys ready for a team we thought was really good,” Stephens said. “We were going against a guy (Justin Crawford) who had been player of the week in the state two or three times at least. He has had three rushing games of 240 or more yards. Give credit to our defense.
“The defense and special teams came up with so many big plays early. That sets the tone not only on your sidelines but on the other team’s sidelines as well.”
Crawford entered the game as the state’s leading rusher with an average of 148.1 yards per game. Against EMCC, Crawford had 18 rushes for 79 yards, which was more than half of Northwest’s 142 yards of total offense.
The biggest drama took place late in the second quarter when Northwest faced a third-and-2 at the EMCC 5-yard line. Crawford was stuffed on third down and a fade pass was broken up at the line of scrimmage on fourth down.
“(When the other team is threatening), we just have to keep our composure,” Latham said. “We can’t think about whether they are fixing to score or not. Instead, we just stay focused on our jobs. If we stay focused, we feel like we will get the stop in the end.”
EMCC had a rare three-and-out to start the game. Lloyd got Northwest off the field even quicker with his interception for a score on the Rangers’ first play. The fumble recovery by Forshee then set up a 5-yard scoring drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Preston Baker. Four minutes into the game, EMCC only had 24 yards but a 12-0 lead.
From there, the floodgates opened. Chad Kelly found Camion Patrick and Allenzae Staggers for the first two of his three passing touchdowns to give the Lions a 25-0 lead after one quarter.
The Lions kept rolling, cranking out 447 yards and 25 first downs. Kelly was 24 of 45 for 236 yards. Staggers had two of the three touchdowns and had a game-high 51 yards on six catches.
“We are still working on the perfect game,” Johnson said. “Every day in practice we try to get just a little bit better. We didn’t have a great week of practice, but we really came out and dominated. When we put the great week of practice together with the great effort on game night, that is when we can win the bigger championships.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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