| 16th-ranked EMCC Lions look to maintain North Division lead Thursday at Northeast |
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 The 16th-ranked EMCC Lions travel to Northeast Mississippi Thursday looking to maintain their lead atop the MACJC North Division football standings. Thursday’s EMCC-Northeast broadcast can be heard on WFCA-FM (107.9) – the Voice of French Camp Academy – with Jason Crowder calling the play-by-play action. The radio broadcast can also be accessed via audio streaming through EMCC’s athletics website – athletics.eastms.edu. Winners of four straight games for the first time in 10 years, the Lions are 5-1 overall and 3-0 in division play after claiming a convincing 47-20 Homecoming triumph over Coahoma this past Saturday. EMCC is off to its best start since opening the 1974 campaign with five consecutive wins en route to posting an 8-2 record. Assured of their first winning regular season since 1998, the Lions moved up four notches to 16th nationally in this week’s NJCAA/JC Football.com Top 20 poll. Headlined by freshman quarterback Randall Mackey of Port Sulphur, La. – the nation’s statistical leader in passing yards (268.7 yards per game) and total offense (318 yds/gm) – East Mississippi as a team ranks No. 1 nationally in passing offense (288.7 yards per game) and second in total offense (463.2 yds/gm) behind Ellsworth Community College. Defensively, the Lions stand seventh among the NJCAA team leaders in passing defense while allowing 117 passing yards an outing on the year. Individually, EMCC boasts four players ranked among the top 13 MACJC statistical leaders in receiving yards per game. Starkville’s Mike Outlaw leads the Lions with 27 catches on the year for an average of 61.5 receiving yards per contest, followed by Montrez Mosley of Meridian with 24 grabs for 360 yards (60 yds/gm). Georgia natives Leon Berry (Griffin) and Wayne Bonner (Milledgeville) have hauled in 21 and 18 passes, respectively, for 292 and 359 yards. Bonner tops EMCC’s receiving corps with five touchdown catches and in yards per reception (19.9). Freshman Phillip Dimino of West Point stands second among the league’s top scoring kickers with 30 points on three field goals and 21 successful points-after-touchdown, while Starkville freshman running back Pat Shed is third in scoring by non-kickers with nine total touchdowns (8 rushing & 1 receiving) for the season. On the defensive side of the ball, freshman defensive end Claude Davis of Lakeland, Fla., is tied for second in the MACJC with seven sacks, while fellow Floridian Jamar Hornsby of Jacksonville – this week’s NJCAA Defensive Player of the Week - ranks second in total tackles with 42 solos and 26 assists. Guided by head coach Ricky Smither, Northeast Mississippi is still looking for its first victory of the season. Having most recently dropped a 38-7 Homecoming decision to East Central last week, the Tigers are 0-6 overall and 0-3 in North Division play. East Mississippi has prevailed in the last two series meetings with Northeast Mississippi, having claimed a 31-27 home victory over the Tigers last year in Scooba and winning in Booneville, 25-8, two seasons ago.
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 ) |
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