All Jacquez Horsley wants is a chance.
After suffering a series of injuries at Starkville High School, Horsley has waited patiently for that breakout season and, more importantly, a season of good health.
With a senior college future to plan, Horsley feels the time is right for that breakout season. It could start Sept. 1 when East Mississippi Community College takes on Jones Junior College.
Ranked No. 4 nationally by The Sporting News and No. 1 in the JCGridiron.com Dirty Thirty poll, EMCC figures to contend for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship. The lofty rankings come in part due to the talent of Horsley and Isaiah Wright at running back
“There is a lot of excitement for this season based on how last season ended,” Horsley said. “We will have revenge on our minds every game. I think the team has a really good attitude, and we are ready to get started.”
EMCC won NJCAA national championships in 2013 and 2014. A quest to become the first to win three straight ended prematurely when the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) barred EMCC from the state playoffs after a brawl broke out in the team’s final regular-season game against Mississippi Delta C.C.
“The team felt a lot of disappointment,” Horsley said. “We learned from our mistakes, and that should make the team stronger this season. We faced a lot of adversity throughout the season. I think the sophomores really learned a lot from that. We will be a different team this season.”
EMCC saw a 25-game winning streak snapped in the second week of the regular season at Copiah-Lincoln C.C. Coach Buddy Stephens was later suspended for one game after an on-field altercation with an official. The season then ended prematurely with the brawl.
Despite those setbacks, EMCC is still among the favorites to win the MACJC championship for a fifth time under Stephens. EMCC will try to make it four-straight national championships for the state, as Northwest Mississippi C.C. took advantage of EMCC’s absence to win last season’s title.
The high accolades stem in large part to the running game. Horsley and Wright served as understudies to D.J. Law last season. Law ran for 597 yards and three touchdowns in 2015. Horsley ran for 489 and six touchdowns. Wright, a prep standout at Florence High School, ran for 483 yards and seven touchdowns.
“D.J. taught us so much about our position,” Wright said. “It’s a big jump because we play in the best junior college league in the nation. (Jacquez and I) really push each other every day because we feel like now it is our team. The offense is still going to throw the ball and we have some great receivers. It’s our job to make blocks and make big plays when we get to carry the ball.”
Horsley also learned from Law, who signed with Alabama-Birmingham. He said the biggest challenge when entering junior college was learning how to become a complete back.
“In high school, you can line up and run over people,” Horsley said. “In junior college ball, you got to have some moves. You got to be able to make cuts more quickly and be able to see the field better. D.J. taught me how to protect the ball better and how to read defenses better. I also got a lot of help from (former Starkville High and EMCC running back) Preston Baker, too.
“You are trying to earn that senior college opportunity, so it’s important you make the most of every day. You have to work every day to become better.”
Wright also feels like team will have a point to prove this season.
“We have moved on, but we remember what happened last season,” Wright said. “The challenge is to learn from it and make sure those things don’t happen again. We know the talent level we have. The offense will be ready to go. We lost some great players, but we have some really good ones coming in.”
Horsley has seen the talent level every day in offseason workouts. Now, the challenge is to move from learner to mentor.
“It’s really strange that you only have two seasons,” Horsley said. “When you arrive, you are trying to learn everything you can about playing on this level. Then a couple of months later, you are teaching all the new guys. They are all eager for their chance.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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