No. 8-ranked and top-seeded EMCC Lions set to host Mississippi Delta in regular-season finale

SCOOBA – Having already secured the MACCC North Division's No. 1 seed for the upcoming MACCC Football Playoffs, the eighth-ranked and reigning MACCC champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College will close out the regular season Thursday evening by playing host to Mississippi Delta on the Scooba campus. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field.

Riding a current four-game winning streak after most recently closing out an unbeaten month of October with last week's 31-17 road win over Itawamba, the EMCC Lions (6-2, 5-0 MACCC North) will look to outright claim their 11^th MACCC North Division football title under the guidance of head coach Buddy Stephens. A win over Delta on Thursday would also complete EMCC's 10^th unbeaten division slate since the 2008 season.

The MACCC Football Semifinals will take place on Saturday, Nov. 11, with the MACCC Championship Game being played the following Saturday (Nov. 18). The EMCC Lions will play host to the No. 2 seed out of the MACCC South Division in the semifinals, while the winner of Thursday's Northeast-Northwest contest will secure the MACCC North's No. 2 seed and travel to the MACCC South Division's top-seeded team for the semis.

Ranked second among NJCAA Division I team statistical leaders in both passing offense (309.5 yds/gm) and touchdown passes (24), East Mississippi also currently stands third nationally in scoring offense (38.6 ppg) and fifth in total offense (444.9 yds/gm).

The Lions are led offensively by three-time MACCC Offensive Player of the Week Ty Keyes, who continues to lead NJCAA Division I quarterbacks with an average of 292.1 passing yards per game that also includes an NJCAA-best 24 passing touchdowns. For the season, the Southern Miss bounceback and Taylorsville product has completed 181-of-302 (59.9%) passes for 2,337 total yards. Keyes has put together three 300-yard passing games and had six outings with multiple touchdowns thrown, highlighted by 472 passing yards and six TD passes during EMCC's 65-17 home win over Holmes back on Sept. 21.

One of eight EMCC receivers with double-digit catches on the season for the Lions, Memphis bounceback Cam Wright ranks among the top 10 NJCAA Division I receivers with 39 catches for 665 receiving yards and seven touchdown grabs. On the ground, EMCC's running back tandem of Jaylen Jennings (357 yds & 6 TDs) and Kiron Benjamin (344 yds & 4 TDs) has combined for 701 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns between them for the year.

Defensively as a team, East Mississippi has recorded 67 tackles behind the line of scrimmage this season, including 33 quarterback sacks divided among 16 different defenders. In addition, Lion defensive backs Bakari McCall (3 INTs for 168 return yds), Shannon Blair (3-102) and Tyrane Stewart (2-0) have combined for eight pass interceptions for 270 total return yards, including a pair of pick-sixes by McCall and the other by Blair.

EMCC head football coach Buddy Stephens, now in his 16^th year as head coach of the Lions, owns a career overall record of 139-23 (85.8%), including an 81-8 (91.0%) career mark in MACCC North Division contests. Mississippi Delta currently stands as one of four MACCC schools that Stephens remains undefeated against as EMCC's head coach. Along with owning a 14-0 career record versus the Trojans (8-0 in Moorhead & 6-0 in Scooba), Stephens is unbeaten in 15 meetings with Coahoma as well as 5-0 against MACCC South Division foes East Central and Southwest Mississippi. Thursday's EMCC-MDCC contest will mark the Trojans' first football visit to Scooba since the 2018 season. The previous three series meetings between the teams were all played in Moorhead (63-14 last year, 56-3 in 2021 & 41-23 in 2019).

Guided by second-year head football coach Tavares Johnson, Mississippi Delta is 2-6 overall and 1-4 in MACCC North Division play after earning a 36-33 upset road win over previously No. 4 Jones College this past Saturday in Ellisville. Delta receiver Sirr Trotter collected MACCC Offensive Player of the Week honors after catching five passes for 177 yards, including touchdown grabs of 98 and 26 yards. The Trojans' other victory this season was a 21-19 division road win at Coahoma on Sept. 21.  

Thursday's EMCC-MDCC regular-season finale 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. Nick Long is set to handle the sideline reporting duties. The game's live-streamed audio will also be carried by SuperTalk Mississippi (WZKR-FM 103.3), out of Meridian, as well as through EMCC's campus radio station, WGTC-FM (92.7), originating from the Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew. In addition, EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts will be available in HD at emcclive.com. Alternate audio streams of the radio broadcasts are also available at wfca.fm.