.jpg "Image") Freshman quarterback Bo Wallace, named the NJCAA’s Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in last week’s season-opening 34-30 win over Mississippi Gulf Coast, will lead the ninth-ranked EMCC Lions to Raymond for Thursday’s non-divisional gridiron contest against the Hinds Eagles.
In his first collegiate game after redshirting last season at Arkansas State University, Wallace connected on 31-of-48 passes for 405 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions, to direct the EMCC Lions to their season-opening 34-30 home triumph over the reigning state football champions. The Pulaski, Tenn., native also rushed for 27 yards and two touchdowns during EMCC’s upset win over then-second ranked Gulf Coast. All total, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Wallace accounted for all five of EMCC’s touchdowns against MGCCC en route to compiling 432 yards of total offense. Wallace was also recognized this week as one of two MACJC Stars of the Week by The Clarion-Ledger newspaper and jucoweekly.org.
Rewarded with a Top 10 national ranking for the fourth straight season, the Lions of East Mississippi head to Raymond to meet the 1-0 Hinds Eagles Thursday evening in a non-divisional MACJC contest. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Joe Renfroe Stadium on the Hinds campus. Guided by veteran head coach and EMCC alumnus Gene Murphy, Hinds kicked off its 2011 campaign with a 44-24 home win over Itawamba a week ago.
Thursday’s EMCC-Hinds game will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM radio (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder set to describe the play-by-play action and Glen Beard slated to provide the color analysis. As an additional feature this season, John Lyle Briggs will serve as the Lions’ sideline reporter during all EMCC football broadcasts. The live audio-streamed broadcast can also be heard online via EMCC’s athletics website – http://athletics.eastms.edu – or by logging onto www.wfca108.com.
Previously ranked 16th nationally in the NJCAA’s Preseason Top 25, head coach Buddy Stephens’ EMCC Lions vaulted seven spots to No. 9 in this year’s initial regular-season NJCAA football poll after last Thursday’s impressive win over visiting Gulf Coast. Last week’s season-opening EMCC triumph also successfully ushered in the New Sullivan-Windham Field era on the Scooba campus with a stadium debut crowd in excess of 4,000 spectators.
Now 25-8 overall under Stephens’ direction dating back to 2008, the EMCC Lions have secured a Top 10 NJCAA national ranking during each of the past four football seasons. A year ago, East Mississippi garnered a No. 7 preseason team ranking on the heels of the school’s first MACJC state football championship in 2009. The Lions rose to as high as second nationally en route to collecting their first state football title and beating Arizona Western in the 2009 Mississippi Bowl. EMCC’s 2008 squad climbed to No. 8 nationally late in the season on the way to earning the program’s first MACJC state playoff berth since 1984.
As EMCC heads to Raymond, the Lions will be looking to avenge last year’s 50-42 home setback to the Eagles of Hinds. Last year in Scooba, EMCC could not overcome four first-half turnovers that led to 27 Hinds points and ultimately resulted in the second of three straight defeats for the Lions to open their 2010 campaign.
With Hinds having prevailed in 11 of the last 12 head-to-head meetings against the Lions, EMCC’s lone series victory during that stretch was a forfeited win gained over the Eagles during the 1996 season. The Lions’ most recent on-the-field victory over Hinds was a 14-10 home triumph in 1983. The last time EMCC recorded a road win over the Eagles came the year prior in Raymond by a narrow 7-6 margin back in 1982.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 September 2011 )
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.jpg "Image") Tennessee native Eric House has joined Chris Rose’s EMCC baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach after spending the past two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach at Troy University.
With four years of coaching experience to his credit, House arrives on the Scooba campus after having spent the past two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach at Troy University. Prior to that, House spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater following his two-year playing career at NAIA member Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tenn.
House will assist Rose with the Lions’ offensive strategies, serving as EMCC’s third base coach during games and handling coaching duties in the areas of hitting and base running. His defensive coaching duties will primarily involve working with EMCC’s outfielders. In addition to his on-the-field responsibilities, House will also play a vital role in the Lions’ recruiting efforts as well as in the supervision of the players’ strength and conditioning workouts.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to join the EMCC baseball staff,” House noted. “It is an honor to have the chance to work alongside such great coaches. I’m also very grateful to (EMCC President) Dr. (Rick) Young and (EMCC VP/AD) Mickey Stokes for this tremendous opportunity. I look forward to what the future holds for EMCC’s baseball program.”
Most recently in a volunteer coaching capacity for the past two years at Troy, House was a member of Bobby Pierce’s coaching staff that compiled a two-year record of 79-44 that included a Sun Belt Conference regular-season title and NCAA Regional Tournament appearance this past year. The 2011 Trojans went 43-19 and upset Oklahoma State in the opening game of the Vanderbilt-hosted Nashville Regional. The previous season, Troy posted a 36-25 record and advanced to the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
While previously earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Trevecca Nazarene, House served as a graduate assistant on Jonathan Burton’s 2009 TNU coaching staff, the 35-23 Trojans finished as runners-up in the TranSouth Athletic Conference regular-season standings and advanced to the championship game of the TSAC Tournament. The previous season on Chris Collins’ coaching staff, the 2008 Trojans were 37-16 en route to claiming the regular-season conference title and making an appearance in the NAIA Region XI Tournament.
In his two seasons as a letter-winning outfielder and team captain at Trevecca Nazarene, House helped lead the Trojans to a two-year combined record of 86-38-1 and back-to-back NAIA Region XI Tournament appearances. After hitting .305 with 12 extra-base hits and 8-of-9 in the stolen base department as a junior for head coach Jeff Forehand’s regional tournament runners-up, House batted .348 with a dozen doubles, 41 runs batted in and eight more stolen bases as a senior for Collins’ TSAC regular-season championship ballclub in 2007.
A native of Old Hickory, Tenn., House prepped at Goodpasture High School in Madison, Tenn., before beginning his collegiate playing career at Jackson State Community College under the guidance of head coach Steve Cornelison.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 September 2011 )
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.jpg "Image") The EMCC Lions have vaulted into a No. 9 national ranking in this week’s NJCAA football poll after claiming a key 34-30 home victory over reigning state champion Mississippi Gulf Coast to usher in the New Sullivan-Windham Field era last Thursday on the Scooba campus.
EMCC’s successful season and stadium debut over the reigning state champions of Gulf Coast has lifted head coach Buddy Stephens’ squad to a No. 9 ranking in this week’s NJCAA Top 20 football rankings after being listed 16th in the NJCAA’s Preseason Top 25 poll. In addition, the Lions moved up three notches to 12th nationally in this week’s JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 team rankings, which include NJCAA-affiliated schools as well as California-based junior college football programs.
EMCC’s Week 3 opponent, Northwest Mississippi, checks in as this week’s highest rated Mississippi junior college team at No. 6 in the new NJCAA rankings. The Lions will travel to Senatobia to take on the reigning MACJC North Division champion Northwest Rangers on Thursday, Sept. 15.
Reigning national champion Navarro College (Texas) tops the NJCAA’s first regular-season poll of the 2011 campaign, followed by Blinn College (Texas), Hutchinson CC (Kan.), Butler CC (Kan.) and Arizona Western College.
Following opening-week setbacks, Gulf Coast and Pearl River (56-55 OT loss at Northwest) have fallen to 12th and 14th, respectively, in the latest NJCAA rankings. MGCCC and PRCC began the preseason rated No. 2 and No. 8, respectively. Copiah-Lincoln, last year’s state runner-up, and Jones County each received votes but did not crack the Top 20 this week.
The EMCC Lions, now 25-8 under Stephens’ guidance since 2008, travel to Raymond to meet the 1-0 Hinds Eagles Thursday evening (Sept. 8) in inter-divisional play. With veteran head coach and EMCC alumnus Gene Murphy at the Hinds helm, the Eagles kicked off their 2011 campaign with a 44-24 home win over Itawamba last Thursday.
As East Mississippi ventures to Raymond this week, the Lions will be looking to avenge last year’s 50-42 home setback to Hinds. A year ago in Scooba, EMCC could not overcome four first-half turnovers that led to 27 Hinds points and ultimately resulted in the second of three straight defeats for the Lions to open their 2010 campaign.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 September 2011 )
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SCOOBA – The 16th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College successfully opened their new Sullivan-Windham Field with a 34-30 home victory over second-ranked and reigning MACJC state champion Mississippi Gulf Coast Thursday night on the Scooba campus.
Pitting the past two state junior college football champions in front of an EMCC home crowd in excess of 4,000 spectators, the contest resulted in the same margin of victory (four points) and ended in the same fashion (game-ending interception by the EMCC defense) as the Lions’ memorable 75-71 home triumph over the Bulldogs in the 2009 MACJC state championship contest.
Thursday’s season opener for both teams definitely favored the home team for much of the opening half of play. Gulf Coast took the opening drive to the brink of the red zone before EMCC sophomore cornerback Jeremy Cannon, of West Point, stripped Bulldog quarterback Raymond Cotton of the ball and ran it back 50 yards to the 30-yard line. Six plays later, Lion freshman quarterback Bo Wallace took it in from 7 yards out to put East Mississippi on top 7-0 after Taylor Walker’s successful point-after-touchdown with 10:24 remaining in the opening quarter.
Following an exchange of possessions, the Lions picked off their first of four MGCCC aerials on the night, as sophomore linebacker JaMichael Myles intercepted Cotton’s pass in the red zone. EMCC proceeded to take advantage of the miscue by marching 83 yards in 15 plays to make it 14-0 at the start of the second period. Wallace, a transfer from Arkansas State University, found Meridian’s Hamp Glover with a 7-yard scoring pass with 14:48 left in the half.
The visitors from Perkinston paid the price for yet another turnover on their next possession, with EMCC freshman safety Justin Cox, of West Point, hauling in his first of three interceptions in his collegiate debut. Wallace went 6-of-7 for 65 yards through the air during the Lions’ resulting drive, culminating with a 15-yard scoring strike to freshman receiver Alventray Tarleton in the left corner of the end zone. Despite a muffed PAT attempt, the home team had mounted a 20-0 advantage with 10:11 remaining in the opening half of play.
The momentum of the contest then swung in favor of the Bulldogs during the final five minutes of the half. Beginning with a faked 32-yard field-goal attempt in which the Lions were called for pass interference, Gulf Coast rolled up three straight scores while EMCC faltered with consecutive three-and-out possessions down the stretch. After Cotton’s 2-yard scamper put the visitors on the board at the 5:06 mark, James Gillum followed with a 10-yard scoring run three minutes later. However, Taylor Pontius’ PAT was no good. Aided by a sizeable punt return following the Lions’ second straight empty possession, MGCCC ended the first-half scoring with 23.4 seconds left by knotting the score at 20-20 on Cotton’s 2-yard toss to tight end Cade Amacker.
East Mississippi’s offense got back on track to begin the second half, as the Lions drove 76 yards on just seven plays, including consecutive passing plays of 29 and 40 yards to Glover and Rodney Davis, respectively, to move back in front. Wallace scored on a 2-yard keeper to the right pylon for a 27-20 advantage with 12:40 left in the third quarter.
Gulf Coast answered by methodically moving 58 yards on a dozen plays to make it 27-27 on Cotton’s 1-yard keeper at the 8:07 mark. The two teams then traded turnovers midway through the quarter before Wallace again took to the air on the Lions’ ensuing possession. The Pulaski, Tenn., native connected on 4-of-5 aerials for 59 yards, highlighted by his 24-yard hook-up with Davis in the end zone to put EMCC on top to stay at 34-27 with 5:19 left in the third quarter.
Davis, a sophomore from Millbrook, Ala., finished the night with five catches for a team-most 109 receiving yards. In his collegiate debut after redshirting last season, Wallace completed the evening with 383 passing yards on 30-of-47 accuracy while accounting for all five EMCC touchdowns.
The Bulldogs appeared set to answer the bell once again after benefitting from a dead ball penalty on the resulting kickoff and starting their drive near midfield. However, two plays after Cotton’s 35-yard scamper put Gulf Coast in the red zone, Cox came up with his second pick of the night. The visitors got a temporary reprieve when Walker’s 25-yard field-goal try misfired early in the final period.
In the only scoring of the final quarter, MGCCC had to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Pontius that cut the deficit to 34-30 with 7:09 remaining after the Bulldogs were flagged for three false-start penalties during a lengthy, time-consuming drive.
An eventful final seven minutes began with a fumble by EMCC on the ensuing kickoff, followed by an apparent 70-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Rodriguez Moore that was called back due to a block-in-the-back penalty by the Lions. Later in the possession, a roughing-the-punter miscue by the visitors prolonged EMCC’s drive across midfield. However, the Lions lost their third fumble of the night on the next play.
Needing a touchdown to move ahead, Gulf Coast took over possession with 1:35 left on the game clock. After moving across midfield, the Bulldogs were temporarily halted following a combo sack by the EMCC tandem of Stokes Wells and Ricky Holt. With under a minute left to play, an apparent interception by Cox was nullified due to defensive holding called on the Lions. It didn’t take long for Cox to complete his hat-trick and preserve the Lions’ season-opening triumph, however, as the former Mississippi State signee picked off his third interception of the night in the right corner of the end zone with just 15 ticks remaining.
Coach Buddy Stephens’ 1-0 EMCC Lions will take to the road for their next two contests, traveling to Raymond to meet Hinds Community College on Thursday (Sept. 8) before opening up MACJC North Division play at reigning division champion Northwest Mississippi the following week (Thursday, Sept. 15).
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Last Updated ( Friday, 02 September 2011 )
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.jpg "Image") The 16th-ranked EMCC Lions will debut their New Sullivan-Windham Field by playing host to No. 2 and reigning state champion Mississippi Gulf Coast in Thursday night’s football season opener. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on the Scooba campus, following pre-game festivities and stadium ribbon-cutting ceremonies slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Available $25 chair-back seats will be sold at the gate on game day, while general admission seats will sell for $10 each. In addition, $5 student tickets will be offered with a valid student ID. EMCC students, staff and faculty will be admitted free of charge with a valid school ID. As a special military invitation for EMCC’s season opener, there will be free admission for uniformed service members.
Thursday’s much-anticipated season opener between the Lions and Bulldogs will be broadcast live on WLSM-FM Radio, 107.1 out of Louisville, with Jonathan Holmes set to describe the play-by-play action and Glen Beard slated to provide the color analysis. Live streaming of the game’s video and audio broadcast will also be available on EMCC’s athletics website – http://athletics.eastms.edu – as well as through the website facilities of WFCA-FM Radio – www.wfcafm108.com – out of French Camp. Additionally, the contest will be featured as jucoweekly.org’s Game of the Week to start the season, with a video recap of the game plus post-game interviews with coaches and players scheduled for a Friday website posting on www.jucoweekly.org.
Pitting two of the most successful gridiron programs in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) ranks during recent years, EMCC and Gulf Coast have split their last four head-to-head meetings dating back to the 2008 campaign. Two years ago on the Scooba campus, the home-standing EMCC Lions avenged a 43-26 regular-season setback to MGCCC by capturing their first state football title with a memorable 75-71 shootout victory over the visiting Bulldogs in the 2009 MACJC state championship game played at EMCC’s previous football site. Back in 2008, the Lions re-established themselves on the national junior college football scene by claiming a 27-23 upset road victory over then-No. 2 ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast, while the Bulldogs earned a 40-21 season-opening home triumph over EMCC a year ago in Perkinston.
Under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Buddy Stephens, the 2011 Lions of East Mississippi are ranked 16th in the NJCAA Preseason Top 25 as well as 14th in the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 preseason team rankings. With a combined three-year record of 24-8 under Stephens’ direction since 2008, EMCC earned a third straight appearance in the MACJC state playoffs a year ago with a runner-up finish in the MACJC’s North Division standings. Along with their state championship and Mississippi Bowl victory over Arizona Western in 2009, the Lions claimed back-to-back MACJC North Division regular-season titles in 2008 and 2009 with consecutive undefeated (6-0) league marks.
As a team heading into the upcoming season, the EMCC Lions return the bulk of their offensive line and receiving corps that ranked fourth among the NJCAA’s total offense team leaders last year. East Mississippi’s improved defensive unit looks to be headlined by sophomore defensive linemen Denico Autry and Damien Jacobs. A 6-foot-6, 255-pound defensive end from Albemarle, N.C., Autry has been tabbed as the MACJC’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by Mississippi Gridiron magazine and is considered one of the nation’s top defensive prospects among the junior college ranks.
With eighth-year head coach Steve Campbell at the helm, Mississippi Gulf Coast is rated second nationally in the 2011 NJCAA Preseason Top 25 behind defending national champion Navarro College of Texas. The Bulldogs knocked off Copiah-Lincoln in last year’s MACJC title game to earn their third state football championship in the last four years. Gulf Coast also claimed a 62-53 Mississippi Bowl victory over Grand Rapids (Mich.) a year ago to cap its 10-2 campaign.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 31 August 2011 )
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