By Erin Redmond
Special to the Dispatch
YUMA, Ariz. — To say it was a good day for East Mississippi Community College quarterback Bo Wallace would be an understatement.
Not only did Wallace become a national champion, but he also broke the NJCAA single-season passing touchdown record. He racked up 53 touchdowns this season with the Lions.
“It just culminates a special season for us,” Wallace said. “Just like I’ve said about all the other records, it’ll be my name on it but if you watched us play, you see the O-line doing great and then those receivers make big plays after the catch.”
After Saturday’s game, Wallace now holds three NJCAA records — and he’s only a freshman.
Wallace had a stellar game, throwing seven touchdowns in EMCC’s 55-47 win over Arizona Western College in Saturday’s El Toro Bowl Presented by Time Warner Cable for the NJCAA National Championship — the first football title for EMCC.
Wallace already held the single-season records for total offense and passing yards going into the game and needed four touchdowns to tie the single-season touchdown record.
Knowing that the Matadors had a strong defense, Wallace said that he wasn’t sure that he would be able to achieve that feat.
“I knew they were a great defense,” Wallace said. “But our offense is really explosive. I knew that if we made plays, if we came to play, that we’d probably get it done.”
Wallace finished the game 30-of-44 for 452 yards, seven touchdowns and an interception.
AWC wide receiver Josh Ford gave kudos to the Wallace and the Lions offense for putting up more points that he’d ever witnessed in a Matador uniform.
“Their offense was real explosive, they put up a lot of points,” Ford said. “I don’t think I’ve seen this in the two years since I’ve been here. Seeing anyone put that many points up on our defense… They were just better than us tonight.”
Lions coach Buddy Stephens said the Matadors indicated they would be ready for whatever EMCC had to throw at them. After hearing that, he said he was determined to let his offense prove them wrong.
“They (AWC) did a lot of talking and have done a lot of talking and said that they wanted to come out and hit us in the mouth,” Stephens said. “I think last night at the banquet they said they’d surely be ready and they promised they were going to be ready. But we were ready — we were ready to play.”
Even though Yuma is a long way from Scooba, Miss., — 1,720 miles to be exact — Wallace said that he’s glad he was able to come to the desert.
“It (winning the national championship) feels great,” Wallace said. “It feels like everything that I thought it would — definitely worth the trip.”
Wallace will leave the Lions after this season, but Stephens said that he sees big things in the quarterback’s future.
“He’s a great young man and player,” Stephens said. “You’re going to see him playing somewhere on Saturday next year.”
Yuma Sun Sports Writer Erin Redmond can be reached at [email protected] or 928-539-6880.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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