The Trojans of Mississippi Delta Community College hosted No. 5 East Mississippi Community College on the gridiron on Thursday night in Moorhead, looking to pick up their first victory of the season. Things did not go the Trojans way, however, as MDCC fell, 41-23, to the Lions.
Spencer Romero (Brookhaven) got the Trojans out to an early 3-0 lead when he drilled a 28-yard field goal with 6:01 remaining in the first quarter.
East Mississippi would score 13 unanswered points when Hamm McGee ran it in from six yards out (missed PAT) with 2:58 left in the first quarter and then added another score on a Connor Neville to Jason Brownlee 35-yard touchdown pass and Josh Smith added a point after with 14:45 in the second quarter.
Mississippi Delta (0-4 overall, 0-2 in the North) cut the EMCC lead to 13-10 with 4:55 left before halftime when quarterback Byron Walker (Sulphur, La.) hit Lebarron Jones (Mobile, Ala.) on a 32-yard touchdown pass and Romero added the PAT.
The Lions would increase their lead to 20-10 just before haltime (1:44) when Jamari Jones scored from one yard out and Smith knocked the point after attempt through the uprights. EMCC (3-1 overall, 2-0 in the North) scored 14 consecutive points after this to move their advantage to 34-10 after a Zias Perryman one-yard run (7:53 in the third quarter), Keon Moore five-yard run (53 seconds in the third quarter) and two Smith point after attempts.
Walker and Jones connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 8:46 left in the fourth and Romero's kick was good to cut the lead in half to 34-17, but the Lions added a four-yard touchdown pass from Julius Coates to Jamari Jones to complete their scoring at 41 total points.
Ranauldrick Murrell (Forest) scored with 59 seconds left to finish the MDCC scoring at 23 points after the Romero PAT was no good.
Patrick Jackson (Columbus) had a monster night on the ground for Delta in the loss, as the sophomore running back had 25 carries for 151 yards. Walker had a solid night in relief, as he was 8-15 for 117 yards and two touchdowns, helping lead the Trojans offense to 270 yards on 61 plays.
Neville paced the Lions offense all evening, finishing 27-41 for 309 yards, one touchdown and one interception for an East Mississippi offense that ran 92 plays for 538 yards.
Jaquanzi Johnson (Oxford) had a huge defensive night for MDCC, collecting 14 tackles (13 solo, one assist) in the unofficial defensive stats department. He was aided by George Jackson (Rolling Fork), who had nine solo tackles, including one for loss.
Delta hits the road next weekend, traveling to Coahoma Community College for another North division affair. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. in Clarksdale.