SCOOBA — Sophomore quarterback Messiah deWeaver joined the East Mississippi Community College football program to win a national championship.
He is one step away from that goal.
deWeaver is expected to start at 7 p.m. Thursday when No. 1 EMCC (11-0) takes on No. 2 Garden City C.C. (Kansas) (10-0) in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship at Carnie Hill Stadium in Pittsburg, Kansas. The game will be shown nationally on the CBS Sports Network. It can be heard locally on WFCA-FM (107.9).
“It’s been a challenging season,” deWeaver said. “You just have to have faith in yourself and you have to believe everything is going to turn out for the best. With a great group of coaches and a great group of teammates, we are playing for the national championship. That’s exciting.”
deWeaver had his sights set on the national title since his first week in Scooba in January. The path to the title couldn’t be expected.
After starting the first two games of the season, deWeaver fell to the backup role. Professional baseball prospect Vijay Miller returned to the EMCC football program 24 hours before kickoff of the season opener. Miller was a reserve quarterback for the 2016 EMCC squad.
Miller drew three-straight starts before a season-ending injury in the opening series against East Central C.C.
deWeaver shifted back to the starter’s role and helped EMCC complete an undefeated regular season. He started both Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) playoff games. In the second playoff game — a 19-14 win at Jones College — deWeaver gave way to TyQuan Ulmer, who threw two touchdowns and sparked a late rally.
“Messiah is just a great athlete and a great leader,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said. “He has handled every situation placed before him. He has handled any adversity with grace. During the course of a football season, you are going to have a bunch of different guys step up. The challenge is to keep working hard for your moment.”
deWeaver has completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 1,639 yards. He has 10 touchdown and four interceptions.
“The thing with Messiah is he is a perfectionist,” EMCC sophomore wide receiver Kalem Reddix said. “We are blessed with three different quarterbacks who could pretty much start for any team in the state. At some places, there could be some confusion and the offense might be out of sync. That’s not here. The coaches are always going to put you in a position to succeed. We have a great amount of confidence, regardless of who is at quarterback.”
deWeaver enrolled at Michigan State in January 2016. He redshirted in 2016 and appeared in two games during the 2017 season.
He was familiar with the EMCC program due to the “Last Chance U” series on Netflix. After watching more replays of past games, he realized Stephens’ up-tempo offense would be a good landing sport before re-launching his Division I career.
“When we first met, I could tell his passion matched mine,” deWeaver said. “We both want to win championships. That is apparent when you get around him. When you get around the other players, too. It’s a championship mind-set. No. 1 is the only acceptable ending here. It’s great being in that environment every day. My job as quarterback is to get the best out of everyone.”
While the plans have not gone as first drawn up, Stephens has entered the stretch run of the season in a familiar position.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound deWeaver is more of a pocket passer, while the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Ulmer is more of a running threat and is used as a “change of pace” and in “short-yardage” situations.
deWeaver has his best game of the season in a 31-7 victory against Copiah-Lincoln C.C. to start the playoffs. In that win, he was 28-for-34 for 275 yards and a touchdown.
Both quarterbacks are benefiting from the best offensive line play at the school since the 2014 season. Both also enjoy having the program’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2013 (Deon McIntosh) in the backfield. McIntosh has rushed for 1,081 yards and 17 touchdowns.
“The mentality around here is whatever it takes,” McIntosh said. “It doesn’t mater who starters or who finishes. We are all in this to win games. The attitude of everybody on this team is what has amazed me. That’s why this has worked.”
deWeaver knows the quarterbacks who have won national championships at EMCC. Current quarterback coach Dontreal Pruitt is on that list.
“Came here to win a championship,” deWeaver said. “Not every day has been easy, but in the end, right where I wanted us to be.”
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Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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