EMCC Lions claim fourth straight win with 28-13 road victory at Mississippi Delta

MOORHEAD – The visiting Lions of East Mississippi Community College claimed their fourth consecutive win with Thursday's 28-13 MACCC North Division road victory over Mississippi Delta. The contest marked the Trojans' Homecoming and was played at Sandy Wilson Field/Jim Randall Stadium on the Moorhead campus.

EMCC's regular-season road finale began with a 14-play, 79-yard drive that culminated five minutes into the contest with a 3-yard touchdown run by reigning NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week Gavin Griffin. His 15^th rushing touchdown of the year, however, proved to be the only scoring of the first half for either team.

The Lions reached the red zone again during their next possession, but the Delta defense held tight before the two teams then traded punts to finish out the opening quarter of play.

Both offenses sputtered to begin the second quarter, as the respective defenses both forced a pair of three-and-out possessions before the home-standing Trojans reached the red zone midway through the quarter on a 47-yard pass play from quarterback Mitchell Davis to Dewayne Mosley. Delta's drive then stalled, however, and Ceidrick Hunt's 46-yard field goal attempt was blocked by EMCC's Donald Passmore III.

The Lions had two additional opportunities to put more points on the board during the final minutes of the opening half but could not get it done either time. First, Ole Miss bounce-back receiver Noreel White couldn't corral a 20-yard pass attempt from Trey Irving III in the end zone on a fourth-and-7 play. During the half's final possession, EMCC kicker Hayden Houpt missed a 37-yard field goal wide right on an untimed play following a roughing the passer penalty called on Delta to end the first half.

Following intermission, EMCC held MDCC to a three-and-out possession to open the second half. The Lions also stepped up on offense, moving 65 yards on eight plays to go up, 14-0 at the 9:45 mark, on Griffin's 4-yard scoring run that boosted his NJCAA-leading rushing touchdown total to 16 on the season.  

Another three-and-out defensive stand by the Lions led to another scoring opportunity late in the quarter, but Houpt missed wide left on a 33-yard field goal attempt at the 2:20 mark.

After the first three quarters produced just 14 points combined on Griffin's pair of touchdown runs, the Lions and Trojans scored two touchdowns apiece during the high-scoring fourth quarter. The visitors got things started in the quarter with Desmond Johnson's second partially blocked Delta punt of the night giving the Lions excellent field position at the MDCC 25-yard line. Four plays later, EMCC's Eric McGehee scored on an 8-yard quarterback keeper to increase the lead to 21-0 with 8:18 remaining in the contest.

The Lions' special teams continued their standout play when Johnson was again a factor by pouncing on Delta's mishandled punt return. In the next play from scrimmage, Irving found Reggie Jackson in the end zone for a 10-yard scoring strike to make it a 28-0 contest with 6:47 left in the game.

To their credit, the Trojans scored touchdowns on their final two possessions of the contest to nearly cut the final deficit in half. Delta initially got on the board at the 3:26 mark when Chance Ross capped a six-play, 55-yard drive by taking an option pitch from quarterback Evans Schippers and racing around the left end from two yards out for the score.    

On the game's next possession, the Trojans recovered an EMCC fumble and proceeded to go 34 yards on four plays for the game's final points coming on Schippers' 19-yard touchdown toss to Mosley with just over a minute remaining on the game clock.

Statistically for the game, East Mississippi outgained Mississippi Delta, 443-242, in total offense yards with a balanced attack of 234 yards passing and 209 yards rushing.

Individually for the Lions, Griffin rushed for a game-high 84 yards on 22 carries in addition to raising his NJCAA-leading rushing touchdown total to 16 on the year. Irving had 316 yards of total offense on 20 completions for 238 yards passing along with 78 rushing yards on 12 attempts. Jacksonville State bounce-back receiver Christian Thomas caught a game-high seven passes for 114 receiving yards for EMCC.

Bidding to return to the upcoming MACCC Football Playoffs after a year's absence, head coach Buddy Stephens' 6-2 EMCC Lions (4-1 MACCC North) will close out the regular season by playing host to the Holmes Bulldogs (3-5, 3-2 MACCC North) on Thursday (Oct. 30). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.