| No. 7 EMCC begins state title quest by hosting Jones County Saturday in Scooba |
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 The two-time MACJC North Division champion EMCC Lions play host to Jones County Saturday afternoon in state football playoff action on the Scooba campus. Kickoff at EMCC’s Sullivan-Windham Field is set for 2 p.m. Tickets for Saturday’s playoff contest will be available for purchase on the day of the game at a cost of $10 for adults and $5 for students. Pre-game tailgating will run from 10 a.m. until game time around Aust Hall on the Scooba campus. Guided by second-year head coach Buddy Stephens, EMCC capped a second consecutive 8-1 regular-season slate with last week’s 28-10 home triumph over Mississippi Delta. Now 16-3 overall and 12-0 in MACJC North Division play with Stephens at the helm, the Lions have won five straight games since dropping a 43-26 home decision to two-time defending state champion Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sept. 17. Ranked seventh nationally in this week’s JC Grid-Wire National Top 25, East Mississippi is also currently rated eighth in the NJCAA/JCFootball.com poll and ninth in the JCGridiron.com rankings. EMCC was previously ranked as high as second nationally before falling to Mississippi Gulf Coast last month. Set to play in the MACJC state football playoffs during back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history, last year’s 42-35 semifinal-round home playoff loss to Pearl River marked EMCC’s first playoff appearance since 1984. Ranked 19th in this week’s NJCAA/JCFootball.com poll, the Bobcats of Jones County enter the postseason with a 6-3 overall record and 5-1 divisional mark. Seeded second in the MACJC’s South Division behind Mississippi Gulf Coast, JCJC had won six straight games after a 0-2 start before dropping a 20-17 home decision to MGCCC this past Saturday in the regular-season finale. Earlier this year during the second week of the season (Sept. 3), the home-standing EMCC Lions avenged last year’s lone regular-season setback by claiming a 28-17 victory over visiting Jones County in handing the Bobcats their second defeat in as many weeks to kick off the 2009 campaign. JCJC registered a 23-19 victory over East Mississippi a year ago in Ellisville. Saturday’s other semifinal-round state playoff battle will pit top-seeded Mississippi Gulf Coast of the South Division and North runner-up Coahoma at Perkinston. Winners of both semifinal match-ups will meet Saturday, Nov. 7 for the 2009 MACJC state football championship. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 October 2009 ) |
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