When East Mississippi Community College football players report to the video room to break down Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C., it is safe to assume a big game has arrived.
“Anytime you hear Gulf Coast, you know you are talking one of the best teams in the state,” EMCC sophomore running back Preston Baker said. “Even though we don’t usually see them in the regular season, you know it’s a big game when you play them. You have to be at your best.”
Arguably the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges’ best rivalry, the teams will meet again at 2 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals of the MACJC playoffs at Sullivan-Windham Field in Scooba.
“Gulf Coast always has tremendous athletes,” EMCC seventh-year coach Buddy Stephens said. “That is always the first thing that leaps out of you mind — the amount of playmakers and the speed they possess. You see things immediately that give you cause for concern.”
EMCC (9-0) has had little to worry about during the regular season.
For a second-straight season, and third time in four seasons, EMCC won all nine games it played in the regular season. The Lions won by an average margin of 53 points per game and didn’t trail this season.
EMCC has won 21-straight games dating back to the 2012 season, and 41 of its last 43 games.
Still, the strength of schedule component in the National Junior College Athletic Association rankings may have cost EMCC this past week. After being ranked No. 1 nationally for nine-straight weeks, EMCC checked in at No. 2, five points behind Iowa Western College.
EMCC should receive a boost this week in the same ranking system since Gulf Coast (8-1) is ranked fifth nationally. This will be EMCC’s third ranked opponent of the season. The potential also exists to play No. 11 Copiah-Lincoln C.C. (7-2) in the Nov. 8 MACJC state championship game.
Being No. 1 in the final regular-season poll (Nov. 11) is critical since that team will be in line to play host to the national championship.
“It’s a two-game season, and everybody is excited,” EMCC sophomore quarterback/running back Todd Mays said. “You come here to compete for championships. We had a good regular season, but we are always looking for a way to play better.”
Most had assumed it would be Gulf Coast-EMCC in the state championship game. However, Co-Lin upset Gulf Coast 29-26 in Perkinston on a kickoff return with slightly more than a minute left in regulation time during the next-to-last week of the regular season to help Co-Lin (a team EMCC beat 46-10 in the regular season) win the South Division.
“Other than defending one kick, we had a great regular season,” Gulf Coast first-year coach Chad Huff said. “That was a great game with a lot of big plays from both sides. We look forward to chance to play EMCC because we know how good this rivalry has become.”
Other than a 7-0 win against Pearl River C.C., Gulf Coast’s other seven wins are by 17 or more points.
Stephens has guided EMCC to the playoffs in each of his seven seasons. The Lions won their first state championship in 2009. Championships in 2011 and 2013 followed.
EMCC has won five of the seven meetings between the schools since Stephens’ arrival. The Lions are 3-0 in postseason meetings.
EMCC beat Gulf Coast 75-71 in the 2009 state championship game, 42-17 in the semifinal round of the 2011 playoffs, and 45-28 in the semifinal round of the 2013 playoffs. All of those games were played at EMCC. The final two were at the new Sullivan-Windham Field.
“Playing at home is a huge advantage,” Baker said. “We have worked real hard this year to get to this point. Now we have to take it up another level to finish the job.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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