Gavin Griffin’s 220-yard, four-touchdown rushing effort powers EMCC to 49-27 home win over Pearl River

SCOOBA – Gavin Griffin rushed for a career-high 220 yards and added to his NJCAA-leading season total for rushing touchdowns with four more scores to lead East Mississippi Community College to a 49-27 home victory over Pearl River during Thursday's MACCC interdivisional contest played at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.

A sophomore running back and 2023 MHSAA Class 1A Mr. Football out of Velma Jackson High School, Griffin's memorable performance included runs of 50, 44 and 37 yards that all came during the first half of play when he ran for 175 yards and for three of the four touchdowns that raised his NJCAA-best total to 14 rushing TDs on the season. Griffin's 220 rushing yards in 22 attempts ranked as the second-most rushing yards by an EMCC player in a game during the Buddy Stephens coaching era (since 2008), surpassed only by the 248 rushing yards gained by Lakenderic Thomas during the Lions' 52-32 national championship victory over Georgia Military in the 2013 Mississippi Bowl played in Biloxi, Miss.

Griffin, who also caught four passes against PRCC, got things started on the game's opening drive when his 44-yard scamper set up his 5-yard scoring run two minutes into the contest.

Following a three-and-out possession by the visiting Wildcats during their first possession of the game, EMCC used a balanced 10-play, 49-yard drive to move ahead, 14-0, on a 16-yard keeper by quarterback Trey Irving III at the 6:13 mark of the opening quarter.

Pearl River closed out the first-quarter scoring by getting on the board with Kobe Pierce's 12-yard touchdown pass to Howard Kinchen that capped a seven-play, 65-yard scoring drive at the 2:45 mark.

As the second quarter got underway, the Lions took advantage of a delay of game penalty called on PRCC during an attempted EMCC punt on a fourth-and-6 play near midfield. After accepting the 5-yard penalty, the Lions opted to line up with Griffin in the Wildcat position behind center now needing only a yard for the first down. The game's standout player got the yard and more as Griffin proceeded to bolt 50 yards straight up the middle for his second score of the game to make it a 21-7 contest 11 seconds into the quarter.

The two teams then traded scoring drives to close out the first-half scoring with the home-standing Lions leading 28-13. After the Wildcats responded with a seven-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by Pierce's 10-yard touchdown toss to Kedrick Triplett at the 10:50 mark, Griffin answered with runs of 37 and 15 yards to set up his third score of the half – from 3 yards out – with 9:01 remaining until intermission.

Following halftime, Griffin went back to work by capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run – his fourth score of the contest – that extended the Lions' lead to 35-13 with 7:43 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats kept clawing back into the game by answering with a 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive that again made it a two-possession contest (35-20) on Kylin Champagne's 9-yard touchdown rush heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

In compiling 464 yards of total offense, including 319 yards on the ground, for the game, the Lions scored two more times during the fourth quarter to mount a 49-20 advantage before PRCC scored the game's final points late in the contest. With the team's first five scores of the game all coming via the rush, the Lions completed their scoring for the night first with a 33-yard scoring strike from Irving to Brenn Moody at the 12:14 mark followed by a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown by Donald Passmore III with 7:22 remaining in the contest.

Pearl River concluded the game's scoring by capping a six-play, 67-yard drive with Jacobi Jefferson's 5-yard touchdown run at the 3:38 mark.

Irving, last year's MHSAA Class 5A Mr. Football out of Gautier High School, finished the game completing 17-of-22 passes for 145 yards with a touchdown and an interception through the air. He also rushed for 50 yards on six attempts. Irving's top targets on the evening were Griffin, Ole Miss bounce-back Noreel White and Jacksonville State bounce-back Christian Thomas all with four pass receptions apiece.

After having completed their regular-season action against MACCC South Division teams with Thursday's home win over Pearl River, the 5-2 EMCC Lions (3-1 in MACCC North) return to division play on a three-game overall winning streak by traveling to Moorhead to take on Mississippi Delta on Thursday (Oct. 23). East Mississippi will then close out regular-season play by returning to the Scooba campus to play host Holmes on Thursday, Oct. 30.