EMCC quarterback Bo Wallace named NJCAA Player of the Week; No. 9 Lions travel to Hinds CC

SCOOBA – As the ninth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College prepare for Thursday's gridiron battle at Hinds, EMCC received more good news Wednesday when freshman quarterback Bo Wallace was named the NJCAA's Offensive Player of the Week for last week's winning debut performance against Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In his first collegiate game after redshirting last season at Arkansas State University, Wallace connected on 31-of-48 passes for 405 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions, to direct the EMCC Lions to their season-opening 34-30 home triumph over the reigning state football champions.  The Pulaski, Tenn., native also rushed for 27 yards and two touchdowns during EMCC's upset win over then-second ranked Gulf Coast.  All total, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Wallace accounted for all five of EMCC's touchdowns against MGCCC en route to compiling 432 yards of total offense.  Wallace was also recognized this week as one of two MACJC Stars of the Week by The Clarion-Ledger newspaper and jucoweekly.org.

Rewarded with a Top 10 national ranking for the fourth straight season, the Lions of East Mississippi head to Raymond to meet the 1-0 Hinds Eagles Thursday evening in a non-divisional MACJC contest.  Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Joe Renfroe Stadium on the Hinds campus.  Guided by veteran head coach and EMCC alumnus Gene Murphy, Hinds kicked off its 2011 campaign with a 44-24 home win over Itawamba a week ago.

Thursday's EMCC-Hinds game will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM radio (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder set to describe the play-by-play action and Glen Beard slated to provide the color analysis.  As an additional feature this season, John Lyle Briggs will serve as the Lions' sideline reporter during all EMCC football broadcasts.  The live audio-streamed broadcast can also be heard online via EMCC's athletics website – http://athletics.eastms.edu – or by logging onto www.wfca108.com.

Previously ranked 16^th nationally in the NJCAA's Preseason Top 25, head coach Buddy Stephens' EMCC Lions vaulted seven spots to No. 9 in this year's initial regular-season NJCAA football poll after last Thursday's impressive win over visiting Gulf Coast.  Last week's season-opening EMCC triumph also successfully ushered in the New Sullivan-Windham Field era on the Scooba campus with a stadium debut crowd in excess of 4,000 spectators.

Now 25-8 overall under Stephens' direction dating back to 2008, the EMCC Lions have secured a Top 10 NJCAA national ranking during each of the past four football seasons.  A year ago, East Mississippi garnered a No. 7 preseason team ranking on the heels of the school's first MACJC state football championship in 2009.  The Lions rose to as high as second nationally en route to collecting their first state football title and beating Arizona Western in the 2009 Mississippi Bowl.  EMCC's 2008 squad climbed to No. 8 nationally late in the season on the way to earning the program's first MACJC state playoff berth since 1984.

As EMCC heads to Raymond, the Lions will be looking to avenge last year's 50-42 home setback to the Eagles of Hinds.  Last year in Scooba, EMCC could not overcome four first-half turnovers that led to 27 Hinds points and ultimately resulted in the second of three straight defeats for the Lions to open their 2010 campaign.

With Hinds having prevailed in 11 of the last 12 head-to-head meetings against the Lions, EMCC's lone series victory during that stretch was a forfeited win gained over the Eagles during the 1996 season.  The Lions' most recent on-the-field victory over Hinds was a 14-10 home triumph in 1983.  The last time EMCC recorded a road win over the Eagles came the year prior in Raymond by a narrow 7-6 margin back in 1982.