EMCC’s Griffin, White and Shepard selected to 2025 NJCAA All-Region 23 Football Team

JACKSON – East Mississippi Community College running back Gavin Griffin, wide receiver Noreel White and offensive lineman Kison Shepard have been named to the 2025 NJCAA All-Region 23 football team, as announced Wednesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) office.

EMCC's all-region football trio helped lead the 11^th-ranked Lions to a 7-3 overall record and 5-1 MACCC North Division mark while earning the program's 12^th division crown and 15^th conference playoff appearance during the 18 seasons under the guidance of NJCAA Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer Buddy Stephens.  

As this year's MACCC North Division's Offensive Player of the Year recipient, Griffin was twice selected the NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week this season on the way to topping the NJCAA Division I statistical leaders with 22 rushing touchdowns (22) and ranking second nationally with 1,168 rushing yards. During the Stephens coaching era (since 2008) at EMCC, Griffin's 134 total points scored and 22 touchdown runs this season rank second behind Tyrell Price's 24 rushing touchdowns and 150 points scored during the Lions' 2017 national championship season.

On EMCC's single-season statistical leaders list during the Stephens era, Griffin's 1,168 rushing yards in 10 games played rank second behind 2025 EMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Rod Moore (1,303 in 2011) and Lakenderic Thomas (1,334 in 2013), who both had the luxury of playing two additional games during EMCC's respective national championship seasons. Griffin's 207 rushing attempts this season are the most by an EMCC player during the Stephens era, breaking the mark of 200 carries previously held by Deon McIntosh during the Lions' 2018 national championship season.

For his two EMCC seasons, Griffin's 1,722 career rushing yards rank third behind Thomas (1,724) and Moore (2,211), while his 30 career rushing touchdowns tie Price for the most during the Stephens era. Along with the 66 points that Griffin scored (8 rush TDs & 3 TD catches) as an EMCC freshman in 2024, the 2023 MHSAA Class 1A Mr. Football out of Velma Jackson High School became just the second EMCC player of the Stephens era to reach 200 career points scored.

White, a Moss Point native and an Ole Miss bounce-back, was named to this year's MACCC All-North Division First Team after ranking third in the MACCC with 52 receptions on the year in addition to standing second in punt return yardage (15.0 yds/ret) and sixth in kickoff return yardage (24.5 yds/ret). Among his 12 punt returns on the year was an 83-yard touchdown return against Itawamba. A Troy University commit along with EMCC quarterback Rodge Waldrop, White was rated as a top 10 recruit in the state of Mississippi by Rivals and 247Sports coming out of St. Martin High School.

Shepard, a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, was selected to this year's MACCC All-North Division First Team after anchoring an EMCC offensive line that has helped the 2025 Lions rank fourth nationally in total offense yards (428.5 yds/gm) and fifth in rushing yards (217.3 yds/gm). The 6-foot-7 Mississippi State University commit prepped at Memphis' Germantown High School before becoming an honorable mention All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference Team selection at TVCC in 2024.

This year's trio of all-region honorees gives East Mississippi a total of 64 NJCAA All-Region 23 football selections during the Stephens coaching era dating back to the 2008 season.