No. 12 EMCC Lions surrender early 17-0 lead to drop 34-24 road decision to Itawamba
The 12th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College succumbed to 34 unanswered points by home-standing Itawamba in dropping a 34-24 road decision during Thursday’s MACCC North Division action played at ICC’s Eaton Field.
FULTON – The 12th-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College succumbed to 34 unanswered points by home-standing Itawamba in dropping a 34-24 road decision during Thursday's MACCC North Division action played at ICC's Eaton Field.
Fresh off last week's 34-28 home upset win over reigning MACCC champion Northwest Mississippi, the EMCC Lions scored the game's first 17 points against ICC before the Indians knotted the score late in the third quarter and then overtook the visitors with a dominant second half.
EMCC opened the division contest by driving 67 yards on eight plays to take an early 7-0 lead on Rodge Waldrop's 22-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Jackson at the 12:20 mark of the first quarter.
After Hayden Houpt extended EMCC's lead to 10-0 with a 29-yard field goal with 9:19 remaining in the second quarter, the Lions seemed to take control of the contest less than three minutes later when Ole Miss bounce-back receiver/kick returner Noreel White followed a three-and-out ICC possession by collecting a punt and racing down the right sideline for an 83-yard touchdown return.
Itawamba managed to grab some initial momentum heading into intermission by getting on the board at the 1:53 mark on Eli Burciaga's 28-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 17-3 heading into the break.
With ball possession to open the second half, the Indians used just two minutes of the game clock to move 75 yards on only five plays on the strength of Mykel Allen's rushing prowess. The sophomore running back out of South Panola High School used runs of 25 and 41 yards to set up his 2-yard scoring burst and further narrow EMCC's lead to 17-10.
After forcing a pair of EMCC three-and-outs, Itawamba tied the contest at 17-17 with three minutes left in the third quarter on Deljay Bailey's 33-yard touchdown pass to Nate Branch that capped an eight-play, 76-yard scoring drive.
The momentum further swung in the Indians' favor on the game's next possession when they took advantage of an EMCC fumble during a completed pass and a subsequent unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to gain ball possession around midfield. ICC benefitted from the turnover to grab its first lead (20-17) of the contest on Burciaga's 48-yard field goal one minute into the fourth quarter.
Following a quick three-and-out forced by Itawamba, the Indians immediately struck pay dirt exactly one minute later when Bailey and Branch again got together for a 48-yard touchdown connection to make it a 27-17 contest with 13:06 remaining in the game.
Two more empty possessions followed for the visitors that included a dropped would-be touchdown toss and an ICC pass rush that knocked EMCC's Waldrop out of the game. The Indians again seized the opportunity to cap their run of 34 unanswered points with Allen's 6-yard scoring rush at the 5:43 mark that followed Bailey's 41-yard keeper and lengthened the margin to 34-17.
With backup quarterback Eric McGehee under center for the Lions, reigning NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week Gavin Griffin capped an efficient six-play, 74-yard scoring drive that finally got EMCC back on the board for the first time since the first half but with only three minutes remaining in the game.
Having now lost to Itawamba during back-to-back seasons for the first time since prior to Buddy Stephens taking over EMCC's head coaching duties in advance of the 2008 football season, the Lions were outgained in total offensive yards, 458-281, during Thursday's meeting. EMCC was limited to only 33 net yards rushing on 22 attempts, while ICC collected 266 net rushing yards on 46 carries.
Individually for the Lions, Waldrop completed 23-of-43 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. His top targets in the contest were Christian Thomas with a game-high nine receptions for 80 yards and White with seven catches for 90 receiving yards.
The EMCC Lions (2-2, 1-1 MACCC North) will look to bounce back next week by traveling to Clarksdale to take on the Coahoma Tigers on Saturday (Sept. 27). Kickoff for Coahoma's 2025 Homecoming contest is set for 2 p.m. at James E. Miller Stadium.
