EMCC Lions set to kick off 2025 football season Thursday at preseason No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast

SCOOBA – Looking to return to the postseason playoff picture, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College will kick off the 2025 football season Thursday (Aug. 28) by taking on the preseason 10^th-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs in Perkinston. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at A.L. May Memorial Stadium.

Thursday's EMCCC-MGCCC season opener will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Brett Bouchillon slated to provide the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively. The game's live-streamed audio will also be carried by EMCC's campus radio station, WGTC-FM (92.7), originating from the Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew. Along with EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts being available in HD at emcclive.com, alternate audio streams of the Lions' radio broadcasts throughout the 2025 football season will also be accessible via wfca.fm.

Though falling just short of making last year's MACCC playoffs, 2024 NJCAA Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Stephens guided the 5-4 EMCC Lions to a 16^th consecutive non-losing football campaign a season ago.

In his 18^th year as EMCC's head football coach, Stephens owns a 12-5 career record against Gulf Coast (8-3 in Scooba & 4-2 in Perkinston), including a 7-1 postseason mark versus the Bulldogs that features conference title game wins over MGCCC during the 2009 (75-71) and 2011 (42-17) seasons in Scooba. In a battle of preseason top 10 teams played a year ago at Sullivan-Windham Field in Scooba, No. 2 EMCC came out on the short end of a weather-delayed, back-and-forth contest with 10^th-ranked Gulf Coast by dropping a 34-28 season-opening home decision to the visiting Bulldogs. Two years ago, the Lions avenged a 42-17 home setback to MGCCC by claiming a 33-21 home victory over the Bulldogs in the 2023 MACCC Semifinals on the way to capturing their ninth conference championship with a 27-20 home triumph over Copiah-Lincoln a week later in the MACCC title tilt. The season prior, EMCC earned a pair of road wins over Gulf Coast. After erasing a 24-point deficit midway through the third quarter of their 2022 regular-season meeting to pull off a stunning 48-45 come-from-behind victory, the Lions returned to Perkinston six weeks later to claim a 38-27 road win in the MACCC Semifinals.

With only 13 total returning players who saw EMCC game action last year, the Lions look to be powered offensively by sophomore running back Gavin Griffin, who rushed for a team-high 554 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 7.1 yards per carry as a freshman a season ago. The 2023 MHSAA Class 1A Mr. Football at Velma Jackson High School averaged 7.1 yards per carry for EMCC to collect second-team, all-division honors.

Under the leadership of offensive coordinator Cade Wilkerson, EMCC's tradition-rich quarterback factory will have a new signal caller this season with the departure of two-year starter and 2023 NJCAA Division I Offensive Player of the Year Ty Keyes. Bounce-back QBs Rodge Waldrop (Georgia State) and Eric McGehee (Central Arkansas) will compete with 2024 MHSAA Class 5A Mr. Football Trey Irving III, out of Gautier High School, for playing time behind center.

The Lions' new-look receiving corps figures to be headlined by Ole Miss bounce-back Noreel White, who was rated as a top 10 recruit in the state of Mississippi by Rivals and 247Sports coming out of St. Martin High School.

EMCC's offensive line looks to be anchored by versatile returning starter Mike Wallace Jr., who is set to fill the void left by two-time, All-MACCC center Braxton Goff (now at Tarleton State in Texas). The Lions are also counting on 6-foot-7 Kison Shepard, an honorable mention All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference Team selection a year ago at Trinity Valley (TX) Community College, to have an immediate impact up front.

East Mississippi features an entirely new defensive coaching staff in 2025 that has joined returning defensive coordinator Cliff Collins, who reunites with Stephens after having spent 12 prior years in two previous stints with the Lions.

Recharged under new defensive direction, the rebuilt Lions are optimistic about the expected immediate contributions from noted edge rusher Terrell James and fellow bounce-back defensive lineman Kevin Norwood Jr. James, a Florida native, split the past two seasons at Murray State and Arkansas State, while Norwood is a Troy transfer from Mobile, Ala.

Returning EMCC defenders who figure to step into more significant roles this coming season include defensive lineman Darrell Gross as well as defensive backs Devin Clark and Donald Passmore III. Clark, a Georgia native, is a former bounce-back from the University of Virginia who has returned for his second season with EMCC after leading the Lions with five pass breakups last year.

With a 17-year head coaching record of 148-28 (.841) with the Lions, EMCC's Stephens will enter the upcoming 2025 football season ranked third on the NJCAA's all-time list for career winning percentage among coaches with 100 or more career games coached. In addition to also ranking third among the NJCAA's winningest active head football coaches, Stephens opens the new campaign ranked 21^st on the NJCAA's all-time wins list and is fifth in Mississippi junior college football history. Along with the Lions' nine conference titles (2009, '11, '13-14, '16-18 & '22-23) in the last 16 years, Stephens' EMCC football teams have also claimed five national championships (2011, '13-14 & '17-18) and 11 division crowns (2008-09, '11-16, '18, '21 & '23) dating back to the 2008 season. The Lions also finished national runners-up in 2023.

After Thursday's season opener at Mississippi Gulf Coast, EMCC's 2025 gridiron slate features home MACCC North Division contests versus Northwest Mississippi (Sept. 11), Northeast Mississippi (Oct. 11 – Homecoming) and Holmes (Oct. 30). To also be played on the Scooba campus, the Lions will play host to interdivisional conference foes Hinds (Sept. 4) and Pearl River (Oct. 16). Division road games are slated for Sept. 18 at Itawamba as well as the following week (Sept. 27) at Coahoma and Oct. 23 at Mississippi Delta. The 2025 MACCC football playoffs are scheduled for consecutive Saturdays on Nov. 8 (semifinals) and Nov. 15 (championship game).