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The ninth-ranked EMCC Lions will welcome Northeast Mississippi for Homecoming 2009 on the Scooba campus. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at EMCC’s Sullivan-Windham Field.
EMCC is set to recognize the school’s 2009 Sports Hall of Fame inductees during pre-game activities, as well as honoring its 2009 Alumna of the Year recipient and Distinguished Service Award winner during halftime festivities of Saturday’s homecoming contest. Due to anticipated wet field conditions on Saturday, EMCC’s 2009 homecoming court will instead be presented indoors beginning at 1:15 p.m. prior to the game in the Stennis Hall auditorium located on the Scooba campus.
Ranked ninth nationally this week in the JC Grid-Wire/JCFootball.com Top 25 and moving up two notches to No. 10 in the NJCAA/JCFootball.com poll, head coach Buddy Stephens’ Lions are 5-1 overall and atop the MACJC North Division standings with a 3-0 mark. Set for the team’s first home competition since dropping a 43-26 decision to defending state champion Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sept. 17, EMCC has since rebounded by claiming back-to-back divisional road triumphs over Northwest Mississippi (49-42) and Coahoma (49-20) the past two weeks.
East Mississippi enters Saturday’s homecoming game against the Northeast Tigers having prevailed in 12 straight MACJC North Division outings dating back to the 2007 season. Last year’s unblemished mark (6-0) in divisional play has been sandwiched between three straight North Division victories to close out the 2007 campaign under the guidance of former head coach Roger Carr and this season’s 3-0 start within the division.
With head coach Ricky Smither at the helm, Northeast Mississippi brings a 2-4 overall record to Scooba with both of the wins having come against divisional competition. The Tigers have knocked off Itawamba (28-21) and Holmes (25-10) thus far on the year. Most recently, NEMCC dropped a heartbreaking 34-28 overtime decision at East Central last Saturday.
EMCC has won each of the last three head-to-head gridiron meetings between the two teams, including last year’s 49-0 road win over the Tigers in Booneville.
With All-America quarterback Randall Mackey at the controls, East Mississippi continues to ascend the nation’s team leaders in total offense with an average of 549.2 yards per contest. The Lions are also ranked third nationally in passing offense with 327 yards per game and stand 13th in rushing offense at 222.2 yards an outing.
The reigning NJCAA Region 23 Offensive MVP, Mackey is presently ranked second nationally in total offense (371 yards per game), third in passing yardage per contest (302 yds/gm) and 35th in rushing (69 yds/gm). The Louisiana native continues to spread the wealth through the air, as nine different Lion receivers have been credited with double-digit catches on the season. Sophomores Bill Franks of State Line and Gulfport’s Stephon Johnson lead EMCC’s aerial attack with 28 and 25 receptions, respectively.
On the ground for the Lions, sophomore running back Pat Shed is currently tied for fifth among the MACJC’s statistical leaders in rushing with an average of 82.3 yards per game. The Starkville native also ranks tied for sixth among the state’s scoring leaders with a team-best 42 points.
The audio-streamed broadcast of Saturday’s EMCC-NEMCC homecoming contest will be made available through WFCA-FM’s website at www.wfca108.com with Brett Bouchillon set to handle the play-by-play duties. The game can also be heard online by logging onto EMCC’s athletics website at http://athletics.eastms.edu.
Bidding to successfully defend their MACJC North Division football championship from a year ago, the EMCC Lions will travel to Fulton to take on Itawamba next Saturday (Oct. 17) before closing out their 2009 regular season by playing host to Mississippi Delta on Thursday, Oct. 22.