EMCC Lions resume division slate with Thursday’s gridiron tilt at Mississippi Delta

SCOOBA – Winners of their last three contests, the Lions of East Mississippi Community College resume MACCC North Division competition in their regular-season road finale by traveling to Moorhead to take on the Mississippi Delta Trojans this week. Kickoff for Thursday's EMCC-MDCC division contest is set for 7 p.m. at Sandy Wilson Field/Jim Randall Stadium on the Mississippi Delta campus.

Following consecutive wins over Coahoma (52-10), Northeast Mississippi (31-28) and Pearl River (49-27), head coach Buddy Stephens' EMCC Lions enter the Delta contest with a 5-2 overall record and 3-1 MACCC North Division mark. Most recently, home-standing EMCC was powered by Gavin Griffin's 220-yard, four-touchdown rushing performance, as the Lions stepped out of division play with a 49-27 victory over Pearl River last Thursday in Scooba. For his collegiate career-best outing a week ago, Griffin collected his second sweep of NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season. The 2023 MHSAA Class 1A Mr. Football out of Velma Jackson High School previously earned both NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week recognition following EMCC's 34-28 home win over then-No. 3 Northwest Mississippi during Week 3 action.  

With five 100-yard rushing efforts on the year and at least one rushing touchdown in each game, including four multi-touchdown games this season, Griffin currently leads NJCAA Division I football with 14 rushing touchdowns on the year in addition to ranking third nationally with an average of 121.1 rushing yards per game. Griffin's 220 rushing yards a week ago against Pearl River rank second on EMCC's single-game list during the Buddy Stephens coaching era, while his four rushing touchdowns versus the Wildcats are the most by an EMCC player in a game since 2017.

Averaging 200.1 passing yards and 208.7 rushing yards per game on the year as a team, East Mississippi's balanced offensive attack is directed by freshman quarterback Trey Irving III out of Gautier High School. The 2024 MHSAA Class 5A Mr. Football recipient has completed 79 percent (45-of-57) of his passes for 465 total passing yards and is averaging 8.9 rushing yards per attempt and 92.3 yards on the ground per game since making his collegiate debut in a starting role during Week 5 at Coahoma. In addition, Irving is averaging 247.3 yards of total offense (155 passing yds/gm) per contest and is responsible for seven total touchdowns (4 rush & 3 pass) through his first three collegiate outings.

The Lions' top pass receiver on the year continues to be Ole Miss bounce-back Noreel White, who currently ranks third in the MACCC with 43 catches for 444 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Jacksonville State bounce-back Christian Thomas follows with 30 pass receptions (312 yards) for the season to rank seventh in the conference.

Defensively for the Lions, freshman linebacker Ja'Cari Owens leads the team with 46 total tackles for the season. He is followed closely by defensive back Donald Passmore III, who now has 45 total stops on the year after his 11-tackle effort and 27-yard pick six a week ago against PRCC. 

Sporting an impressive overall career record of 153-30 (.836) in his 18^th season with the Lions, Stephens owns an unblemished 16-0 career mark - evenly split at 8-0 in both Scooba and Moorhead - against Mississippi Delta through the years. The Lions prevailed in Scooba during each of the past two seasons (49-0 last year & 52-6 in 2023). Prior to that, EMCC's three previous wins over Delta all came in Moorhead during the 2019 (41-23), 2021 (56-3) and 2022 (63-14) seasons.

Guided by first-year head football coach Ernest T. Jones, an Alcorn State University alumnus who served as the Braves' head coach during the 2008 season, the Trojans of Mississippi Delta are winless in seven outings this season with losses to Jones (33-0), Mississippi Gulf Coast (58-7), Northeast Mississippi (24-7), Hinds (48-0), Itawamba (34-2), Holmes (47-0), and Northwest Mississippi (51-0).

Thursday's EMCC-MDCC contest will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Glen Beard 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. Alternate audio streams of the Lions' radio broadcasts throughout the football season will also be accessible via wfca.fm. Thursday's video livestream will be available at www.youtube.com/@MDCCTrojans.