Gavin Griffin tabbed MACCC Offensive Player of the Week for nationally 12th-ranked EMCC Lions
East Mississippi Community College sophomore running back Gavin Griffin has been selected the MACCC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in helping lead the Lions to last week’s 34-28 home win over then-No. 3 Northwest Mississippi. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office.
JACKSON – East Mississippi Community College sophomore running back Gavin Griffin has been selected the MACCC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts in helping lead the Lions to last week's 34-28 home win over then-No. 3 Northwest Mississippi. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office.
Griffin rushed for a career-high 189 yards and three touchdowns in 23 attempts against Northwest to mark the most rushing yards by an EMCC player in a single game since Lakenderic Thomas totaled 248 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries during the Lions' 52-32 win over top-ranked Georgia Military in the 2013 Mississippi Bowl in Biloxi to claim the national championship.
After rushing for 29 yards in his first carry of the game last week versus NWCC, Griffin went on to average 8.2 yards per attempt on the night. Along with touchdown runs of 53, 1 and 2 yards, the Canton native also had other double-digit runs of 20, 19 and 18 yards. In addition, Griffin caught four passes for 36 receiving yards against the Rangers to reach 225 all-purpose yards in the contest.
For the season, Griffin enters the week as the top rusher in NJCAA Division I football with an average of 128 rushing yards per contest through three games. He also ranks tied for third nationally with five rushing touchdowns on the year. Averaging 5.5 yards per rushing attempt this season, Griffin ran for 104 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries in EMCC's 7-6 home win over Hinds. He opened his sophomore campaign with 91 rushing yards and a score in 22 attempts during the Lions' 41-21 road setback to now-No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast.
After earning 2023 MHSAA Class 1A Mr. Football honors as a prep senior at Velma Jackson High School, Griffin rushed for a team-high 554 yards and eight touchdowns, while averaging 7.1 yards per carry, as an EMCC freshman to collect second-team, all-division honors a season ago.
Along with improving the Lions' composite record against opponents ranked in the top three nationally to 14-2 during the Buddy Stephens coaching era, last week's six-point division win over reigning MACCC champion Northwest Mississippi elevated 2-1 EMCC to No. 12 nationally in this week's NJCAA Division I Top 15 Football Rankings. The Lions had been receiving votes during previous weeks to begin the season.
The victory over Northwest also marked Stephens' 150th career coaching win (against only 29 career losses) for the Lions. The former Pearl River CC assistant coach presently ranks third on the NJCAA's all-time list for career winning percentage (.838) among coaches with 100 or more career games coached. Along with ranking third among the NJCAA's winningest active head football coaches, Stephens also currently stands 21st on the NJCAA's all-time wins list and is fifth in Mississippi junior college football history.
The EMCC Lions now turn their collective attention to the 1-2 Indians of Itawamba Community College, who got into the win column with last week's 23-14 road win at East Central. ICC had previously dropped decisions to Hinds (34-7) and at Pearl River (48-42). Kickoff for Thursday's (Sept. 18) EMCC-ICC division battle is set for 7 p.m. at Eaton Field in Fulton.