EMCC Lions set to host No. 3 Northwest Mississippi in MACCC North Division opener

SCOOBA – The home-standing Lions of East Mississippi Community College are set to begin MACCC North Division play on Thursday (Sept. 11) by playing host to reigning MACCC champion and third-ranked Northwest Mississippi on the Scooba campus. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field.

Having improved their composite record to 18-5 in bounce-back games played following in-season losses during Buddy Stephens' EMCC head coaching career (since 2008), the Lions evened their 2025 mark to 1-1 by holding on for last week's 7-6 home win over Hinds. EMCC opened the season the previous week with a 41-21 road setback to now-No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast in Perkinston.

Last week's narrow one-point victory over visiting Hinds also marked EMCC's lowest-scoring football game during the Stephens coaching era with only 13 total points (all in the first half) scored between the Lions and Eagles. The previous lowest-scoring EMCC football contest dating back to Stephens' first EMCC season had been the Lions' 10-9 national title game win over Garden City [Kan.] in the 2018 NJCAA e-TeamSponsor Football National Championship Game played in Pittsburg, Kan. 

A week ago, in Scooba during their home season opener, the Lions made their precarious 7-6 first-half lead hold up with a pair of key special teams efforts on blocked kicks. The narrow victory was initially preserved with Kindal Moorehead's first-quarter blocked extra-point attempt following Hinds' lone score of the night. Then within the game's final minute of play, Ryan Harvey's 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by EMCC's Davier Bishop with added pressure by Donald Passmore III to secure the Lions' first victory of the season.   

Guided by 10^th-year head football coach Benjy Parker, No. 3 Northwest Mississippi is 2-0 on the young season after opening the 2025 campaign with a 42-17 road win over Pearl River and then adding a 29-10 home victory over East Central a week ago in Senatobia. Last season, the 10-2 Rangers claimed their third MACCC football championship in the last five seasons by knocking off East Central, 34-7, in the conference title tilt after besting Mississippi Gulf Coast, 33-31, in the conference semifinals. Northwest dropped a 42-21 decision to top-ranked Iowa Western in the 2024 NJCAA Division I Semifinals played in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

EMCC's Stephens, now 149-29 (.837) in his 18^th year as head coach of the Lions and bidding for his 150^th career overall win, owns a 14-5 career record (5-3 in Scooba & 9-2 in Senatobia) versus Northwest Mississippi dating back to his first season at the EMCC football helm, including conference championship wins over the Rangers three years ago as well as back-to-back during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Along with their 36-28 victory at Northwest during the 2022 MACCC championship contest, the Lions also prevailed over the Rangers, 38-30, in the 2016 conference title tilt played in Scooba and then came back the following year to earn a memorable 67-66 double-overtime road triumph over Northwest during the 2017 championship game played in Senatobia.

A year ago (Sat., Sept. 14) during their MACCC North Division opener that was delayed two days by the impacts of Hurricane Francine, the visiting Lions were slowed by five turnovers in dropping a 33-14 road decision to Northwest Mississippi. Though EMCC held a team statistical edge in both total offense yards (365-267) and first downs (26-16), the home-standing Rangers took advantage of four interceptions thrown by EMCC and a first-quarter fumble that opened the game's scoring to claim the 19-point victory.  

Dating back to the 2008 football season with Stephens' arrival on the Scooba campus, EMCC and Northwest have combined to claim the last 17 MACCC North Division regular-season football championships between them. The Lions have won 11 of those division titles (2008-09, '11-16, '18, '21 & '23), while the Rangers have earned the other six MACCC North crowns (2010, '17, '19-20, '22 & '24). Aided by the Lions' nine conference championships (2009, '11, '13-14, '16-18 & '22-23) since 2009 and five national titles (2011, '13-14 & '17-18) during an eight-year span, EMCC and Northwest have also combined to account for 13 MACCC football championships in the last 16 years along with six NJCAA titles over the last 14 seasons.

Thursday's EMCC-NWCC contest will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Jason Crowder and Jay Perry slated to provide the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively. Brad Logan is also set to handle sideline reporting duties. 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. Along with EMCC's weekly live video-streamed football broadcasts being available in HD at emcclive.com, alternate audio streams of the Lions' radio broadcasts throughout the football season will also be accessible via wfca.fm.