EMCC freshman quarterback Trey Irving III tabbed MACCC Offensive Player of the Week

JACKSON – For his dual-threat quarterbacking exploits during East Mississippi Community College's 50-39 home win over Holmes to close out the regular season last Thursday in Scooba, EMCC freshman Trey Irving III has been named the MACCC Offensive Player of the Week. The announcement was made Tuesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office.

Irving accounted for 391 yards of total offense and was responsible for three touchdowns, along with adding a two-point conversion run, in directing now-No. 9 EMCC to last week's pivotal win over Holmes. Along with completing 15-of-27 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns through the air against the Bulldogs, Irving rushed for a season-high 189 yards on 16 attempts, including a 12-yard, go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter. After helping set the tone for EMCC's offensive effort with a 61-yard keeper to the 4-yard line on the Lions' first play from scrimmage, Irving added a 38-yard run late in the first half to set up his short scoring pass and then converted the subsequent two-point conversion on the ground to put EMCC back in the lead heading to halftime.

The 2024 MHSAA Class 5A Mr. Football out of Gautier High School, Irving has been instrumental this season in helping lead the 7-2 EMCC Lions to a share of their 12th MACCC North Division championship during the Buddy Stephens coaching era. After not having seen action through EMCC's first four games, Irving made his collegiate debut as the team's starting quarterback during Week 5 at Coahoma after Troy University commit Rodge Waldrop went down with an injury the previous week. Irving has since quarterbacked the Lions to five consecutive wins and will lead the nine-time conference champions to their 15^th playoff appearance under Stephens' guidance when they play host to seventh-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast in this week's MACCC Football Semifinals on Saturday (Nov. 8). Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at EMCC's Sullivan-Windham Field on the Scooba campus.

For the season, Irving has completed 64.5 percent (80-of-124) of his passes for 905 yards and six touchdowns while having also averaged 9.2 yards per rush (544 yds on 59 att.) with five rushing touchdowns. He's averaging 181.0 passing yards and 108.8 rushing yards per contest on the year for a per-game average of 289.8 yards of total offense with 11 total touchdowns responsible for during his five outings.  

During his senior season at Gautier, Irving threw for 2,588 yards and 20 touchdowns on 210-of-294 (71%) passing. He also rushed for 930 yards and 19 scores on 138 carries (6.7 yds/att.) last season for the Gators.

Along with Irving's current league honor, the EMCC Lions have accounted for five MACCC Player of the Week recognitions this football season. Running back Gavin Griffin has doubled up on MACCC and NJCAA Offensive POTW accolades twice this season, while defensive end Davier Bishop and placekicker Hayden Houpt earned Defensive and Special Teams POTW honors, respectively, following EMCC's Oct. 11 win over Northeast Mississippi.