.jpg "Image") SCOOBA – With the national championship of junior college football at stake, the second-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College travel to Yuma, Ariz., to meet the home-standing and top-ranked Matadors of Arizona Western College Saturday afternoon in the El Toro Bowl – presented by Time Warner Cable. Kickoff for the 2011 NJCAA Football Championship at AWC’s Veterans Memorial Stadium is slated for 2:30 p.m. MT (3:30 p.m. CT).
With video and audio production services provided by Meridian-based Prep Sports Network Now (www.psnnow.com), in conjunction with the NJCAA and Arizona Western College, Saturday’s national championship contest is scheduled to be televised live locally on My Mississippi (WCBI-DT2). My MS can be viewed by all cable and over the air households in the Columbus/Tupelo market, which includes but not limited to the Mississippi counties of Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Itawamba, Lee, Lowndes, Monroe, Montgomery, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tishomingo, Union, Webster, Winston and Yalobusha, as well as Lamar County in Alabama. In addition, WCBI-TV’s channel for over the air viewers is channel 4.2.
In the Meridian market, the game is slated to air on MyTOK2 via the Comcast Cable system. WTOK-TV's channel for over the air viewers is channel 11.2.
Additionally, through the combined efforts of the NJCAA, iHigh.com and Arizona Western’s Matador Sports Network, a live video-streamed broadcast of Saturday’s NJCAA-sanctioned championship gridiron contest will be available online at www.njcaatv.ihigh.com.
Saturday’s national title clash between EMCC and AWC will also be broadcast live on WFCA-FM Radio, 107.9 out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Glen Beard calling the play-by-play action along with John Lyle Briggs handling the sideline reporting duties. The live audio-streamed radio broadcast can also be accessed online through EMCC’s athletics website - http://athletics.eastms.edu – as well as by logging onto www.wfcafm108.com.
Pitting a pair of undefeated (11-0) teams, Saturday’s EMCC-AWC gridiron battle will mark a rematch of the 2009 Mississippi Bowl played in Biloxi. Two years ago at Biloxi Indian Stadium, the EMCC Lions, ranked fifth nationally at the time, claimed a 27-24 victory over then-No. 6 Arizona Western. In that prior meeting, East Mississippi jumped out to an early 13-0 lead and held a 20-17 advantage at halftime. After 17 unanswered points by the AWC Matadors, the Randall Mackey-led Lions reclaimed the lead for good with a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter. Battling through a scoreless fourth quarter by both teams, EMCC secured the program’s first-ever, 11-win season with a pair of pass interceptions over the game’s final four minutes.
As was the case in 2009 when the two teams met in the Mississippi Bowl, this year’s EMCC-AWC bowl matchup figures to feature a run-oriented Matador offense versus the Lions’ top-rated passing attack. Under the record-breaking, quarterbacking leadership of NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year candidate Bo Wallace, East Mississippi continues to lead the NJCAA in team passing offense and total team offense, averaging 380.5 yards through the air and 553.2 yards of total offense per game on the year. With sophomore running back Damien Williams leading the way as the nation’s top rusher (162.3 yards per game), Arizona Western is ranked sixth nationally as a team in averaging 246 rushing yards per contest for the season. Additionally, AWC owns the NJCAA’s top-rated defensive unit against the run, allowing an average of only 34.2 rushing yards per game on the year.
In addition to already establishing new single-season NJCAA standards for most passing yards (4,118) and total offense yards (4,324), EMCC’s Wallace, a former redshirt at Arkansas State University by way of Pulaski, Tenn., needs four more touchdown passes to match the current NJCAA season record of 50 touchdowns thrown by Tony DeLeon of Vermilion Community College (Minn.) in 1992.
Along with Wallace, East Mississippi CC features several other players ranked among the nation’s individual offensive statistical leaders. In becoming the Lions’ first 1,000-yard rusher since current Tampa Bay Buccaneers back LeGarrette Blount, EMCC freshman running back Rodriguez Moore (Bastrop, La.) ranks fifth nationally with 1,196 rushing yards this year. Among the Lions’ talented receiving corps, sophomore Lacoltan Bester, of Kemper County, stands third among NJCAA leaders in receptions (68) and receiving yards (980), in addition to ranking second with 15 touchdown receptions and tied for ninth in scoring among non-kickers with 90 points. Sophomore receiver/returner Rodney Davis (Millbrook, Ala.) stands seventh in the NJCAA with 836 receiving yards (on 43 catches) and fifth with 600 kickoff return yards (on 21 runbacks).
Defensively, freshman safety Justin Cox, of West Point, is in a 12th-place tie with five pass interceptions on the year. On special teams, sophomore placekicker Taylor Walker, from Northwest Rankin High School, is tied for fifth nationally among kickers with 82 points scored on 67-of-71 point-after-touchdown tries and 5-of-10 field-goal attempts.
Under the guidance of 2011 NJCAA Region 23 and MACJC North Division Coach of the Year Buddy Stephens, the EMCC Lions have put together a composite overall record of 35-8 (.814) dating back to the 2008 season, including a pair of 11-win campaigns and two MACJC State/NJCAA Region 23 Championships over the past three years. East Mississippi has also claimed three MACJC North Division regular-season titles since 2008 with a collective division mark of 22-2 (.917).
With a similar success rate dating back to 2008, the Arizona Western College football program has compiled an equally impressive four-year record of 35-9 (.795) under the direction of head coach Tom Minnick. The Matadors captured their third consecutive Western States Football League (WSFL) championship this season by reaching the 11-win plateau for the first time in school history.
Statistically, both East Mississippi and Arizona Western have put up tremendous offensive numbers this season. The Lions are averaging 46.7 points per contest, including five games with 50 or more points, and out-scoring the opposition by an average margin of nearly 26 points an outing. Similarly, the Matadors are ringing up an average of 50.5 points a game while giving up only 11.1 points per contest on the year.
After a 38-year hiatus, the El Toro Bowl returns to the national scene for the first time since 1972 when home-standing Arizona Western claimed a 36-8 victory over Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College to cap an undefeated season and seal the Matadors’ first-ever National Championship. The El Toro Bowl previously ranked as one of the NJCAA’s premier bowl games during a five-year span (1968-72) four decades ago.
East Mississippi Community College is bidding to become the fifth school from the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) to garner at least a share of the NJCAA Football Championship. Most recently, Mississippi Gulf Coast CC claimed a share of the 2007 National Championship with Butler CC (Kan.). The MGCCC Bulldogs also previously won national titles in 1984 and 1971. With current EMCC head coach Buddy Stephens as well as current EMCC associate head coach/defensive coordinator William Jones on the coaching staff at Pearl River CC, the Wildcats earned the 2004 NJCAA National Championship. During back-to-back years two decades ago, Mississippi Delta and Northwest Mississippi claimed national titles in 1993 and 1992, respectively. The Northwest Rangers also previously collected national team honors in 1982.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 December 2011 )
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Bouncing back from Monday’s loss to host Shelton State, the 17th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College held Chattahoochee Valley CC to 18 second-half points in coasting to an 80-40 victory in Tuesday’s final-round tournament action of the Southland International Classic.
Head coach Mark White’s EMCC Lions led CVCC 31-22 at the half, but outscored the Pirates 49-18 in the second stanza to rebound from Monday’s opening-round 67-61 setback to the host Buccaneers.
Transfer forward Colin Borchert led all scorers with a season-high 28 points for the East Mississippi men after being limited to a season-low nine points on Monday. Also bouncing back from a season-low, seven-point outing in which he fouled out midway through the second half against Shelton State, sophomore guard D.J. Evans, of Brandon, followed with 17 points for the winners.
Sophomore guard Traddarius McPhearson, who led EMCC with 13 points in Monday’s loss, was selected to the all-tournament team for his two-day performance.
The 4-2 EMCC Lions, two-time defending MACJC North Division champions, return to the court one week from Thursday (Dec. 1) by tipping off division play at Holmes Community College. Next home action for the East Mississippi basketball teams is Monday, Dec. 5, against the Rangers of Northwest Mississippi CC.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 November 2011 )
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PERKINSTON – Short-handed for the second straight day, the Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College couldn’t make up for the absence of leading scorer Jeraldine Campbell in dropping a 65-58 decision to Baton Rouge CC in Tuesday’s final-round tournament action of the Gulf Coast Classic.
With Campbell, a former Noxubee County standout, staying home because of pneumonia, head coach Sharon Thompson’s EMCC Lady Lions struggled offensively for the second day in a row. On the heels of her season-best, 23-point effort in Monday’s 60-53 loss to Alabama Southern CC, sophomore guard Chadisty Hickman, of Kemper County, paced the EMCC women with 18 points against BRCC.
Transfer forward Asia Bragg and freshman guard Rachel Adams added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Lady Lions in Tuesday’s setback to Baton Rouge.
The 1-5 EMCC Lady Lions, defending MACJC North Division champions, return to the court one week from Thursday (Dec. 1) by tipping off division play at Holmes Community College. Next home action for the East Mississippi basketball teams is Monday, Dec. 5, against the Rangers of Northwest Mississippi CC.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 November 2011 )
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The 17th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College dropped a 67-61 opening-round decision at host Shelton State CC in Monday tournament action of the Southland International Classic.
In a matchup of NJCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, EMCC held a sizeable 38-19 halftime advantage over the unbeaten Buccaneers. The Lions held the lead until past the midway point of the second half, but the visitors seemed to lose momentum when sophomore point guard D.J. Evans fouled out with 10 minutes still remaining in the contest.
Sophomore Tradarrius McPhearson was EMCC’s only player in double figures with 13 points. Sophomore transfer Colin Borchert and freshman guard Jalen Houston tallied nine points apiece for the Lions, while sophomore Deon Bedford and Evans added eight and seven points, respectively.
Head coach Mark White’s 3-2 EMCC Lions will meet Chattahoochee Valley CC in Tuesday’s tournament action from the Shelton State CC campus in Tuscaloosa.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 November 2011 )
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PERKINSTON – Playing without their leading scorer due to illness, the short-handed Lady Lions of East Mississippi Community College dropped a 60-53 opening-round tournament decision to Alabama Southern CC Monday afternoon at the Gulf Coast Classic.
With freshman guard Jeraldine Campbell, of Noxubee County, not making the trip to Perkinston because of pneumonia, the EMCC women squandered a 33-26 halftime lead and didn’t have enough firepower to catch back up to ASCC down the stretch. Slowed by missed layups and hurt by their inability to keep Alabama Southern off the offensive boards, the Lady Lions missed Campbell’s 25.5 points-per-game scoring average in the contest.
In Campbell’s absence, EMCC sophomore guard Chadisty Hickman stepped up to score a season-high 23 points, but the former Kemper County standout was the only Lady Lion player to reach double digits in the scoring column. Freshman forward Dajah McCarty, of Quitman, and freshman guard Brianna May, from East Rankin Academy, followed with eight points apiece.
The 1-4 EMCC Lady Lions will bounce right back to take on Baton Rouge Community College Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. in final-day action of the Gulf Coast Classic. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 November 2011 )
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