PERKINSTON — East Mississippi Community College quarterback De’Andre Johnson grabbed some more hardware going out the door.
Johnson earned Most Valuable Player honors in EMCC’s 27-17 victory against Kilgore (Texas) College on Sunday afternoon in the Mississippi Bowl at Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C.’s A.L. May Stadium.
While the numbers were average by Johnson’s standards — 16-of-30 passing for 163 yards (third lowest total of season) — he did enough to make sure EMCC won its 11th-straight game and made a strong case to finish second nationally when the final National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) rankings are released today.
Johnson also earned Team Most Valuable Offensive Player of the Game honors, while EMCC sophomore defensive lineman Diamante Pounds grabbed the same honors on the defensive side.
Pounds had eight tackles, including three for loss. He was a two-year starter and part of a sophomore class that won 20 of 21 games in a two-year span.
“My time here was incredible,” Pounds said. “I will always have great memories. Coach (Buddy) Stephens and the other coaches really helped me grow and mature as a football player and as a person.”
Starting over
Coach Buddy Stephens already was looking forward to the 2017 season when the final horn sounded.
After winning the NJCAA national championship in 2011, 2013, and 2014, the 2015 season ended prematurely with a benches-clearing brawl in a regular-season victory against Mississippi Delta C.C.
The brawl forced EMCC to play without nearly half of its roster for a season-opening 27-25 loss at Jones Junior College. The Lions rallied from that defeat and won all 11 games they played with a full roster.
No. 1 Garden City (Kansas) C.C. beat No. 2 Arizona Western College 25-22 in the El Toro Bowl in Yuma, Arizona, on Sunday to win the national championship. EMCC most likely will be No. 2 for the first time in program history when the final rankings are released.
The victory snapped the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges’ (MACJC) run of three-straight national titles.
Next season, EMCC will have the incident in its rear-view mirror with a full complement of players for the entire season. The schedule will feature the same set of opponents from this season, and will start with home games against Jones and Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C.
“This program has fought through a lot of adversity in the last two seasons,” said Stephens, who completed his ninth season Sunday. “There was a lot of growing up, and we learned a lot of things we didn’t want to learn. I plan to coach for a long time, and we will continue to grow and continue to get better.
“There is no question the program is in a better position than it was a year ago at this time.”
Stephens is 5-0 in bowl games at EMCC with five MACJC state championships and three national championships.
MACJC goes 2-1
The MACJC won two of three bowl games involving its teams over the weekend.
Also Sunday, No. 9 Holmes C.C. beat Iowa Western College 28-21 in the Graphic Edge Bowl in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It was Holmes C.C.’s first bowl appearance in 28 seasons, and first bowl win.
On Saturday, No. 4 Trinity Valley (Texas) C.C. beat No. 5 Northwest Mississippi C.C. 34-24 in the Heart of Texas Bowl at Copperas Cove, Texas.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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