Gavin Griffin heads EMCC football honorees as MACCC North Division Offensive Player of the Year

JACKSON – East Mississippi Community College running back Gavin Griffin has been named the MACCC North Division's Offensive Player of the Year to highlight the Lions' 13 selections to the 2025 All-MACCC football teams. Chosen by a panel of the MACCC's head football coaches, the conference's first-team, second-team and honorable mention football selections from the league's North and South Divisions were announced Wednesday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference office.

Along with Griffin, head coach Buddy Stephens' 7-3 EMCC Lions placed Ole Miss bounce-back Noreel White on the MACCC North Division First Team as both a wide receiver and return specialist. Also earning first-team honors for the division co-champions were offensive lineman Kison Shepard, defensive lineman Kevin Norwood Jr., along with defensive backs Donald Passmore III and Jathan Hatch.

Second-team accolades for the Lions went to the offensive line tandem of Mike Wallace Jr. and Julian Jakobe as well as the defensive line duo of Davier Bishop and Darrell Gross.

A pair of EMCC freshmen, wide receiver Christian Thomas and linebacker Ja'Cari Owens, earned honorable mention recognition for the Lions.

As EMCC's lone repeat all-conference performer from a year ago, Griffin was twice selected the NJCAA and MACCC Offensive Player of the Week this season on the way to currently topping the NJCAA Division I statistical ranks in rushing yards (1,168), rushing touchdowns (22) and rushing attempts (207). Griffin's 134 points scored this season presently lead the NJCAA Division I ranks by 47 points, while his 22 rushing TDs are nine more than his nearest competitor. During the Buddy Stephens coaching era (since 2008), both totals rank only behind Tyrell Price's 24 rushing touchdowns and 150 points scored during the Lions' 2017 national championship season.

On EMCC's single-season statistical leaders list during the Stephens era, Griffin's 1,168 rushing yards (in 10 games this year) rank only behind 2025 EMCC Sports Hall of Fame inductee Rod Moore (1,303 in 2011) and Lakenderic Thomas (1,334 in 2013). Both Moore and Thomas had the luxury of playing two additional games during their respective national championship seasons with the Lions. In addition, Griffin's 207 rushing attempts this season are the most by an EMCC player during the Stephens era, breaking the mark of 200 carries previously held by Deon McIntosh during the Lions' 2018 national championship season.

On EMCC's career statistical leaders chart during the Stephens era, Griffin's 1,722 career rushing yards rank only behind Lakenderic Thomas (1,724) and Rod Moore (2,211). Griffin's 30 career rushing touchdowns tie Tyrell Price for the most during the Stephens era. Along with Griffin's 66 points scored (8 rush TDs & 3 TD catches) as an EMCC freshman by way of Velma Jackson High School, the 2023 MHSAA Class 1A Mr. Football also became just the second EMCC player of the Stephens era to reach 200 career points scored. Kicker Drew White tallied 204 total points during the Lions' back-to-back national championship seasons of 2013 and 2014.

Noreel White, out of St. Martin High School, currently ranks third in the MACCC with 52 receptions on the year in addition to standing second in punt return yardage (15.0 yds/ret) and sixth in kickoff return yardage (24.5 yds/ret). Among his 12 punt returns on the year was an 83-yard touchdown return against Itawamba.

Kison Shepard, a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, anchored an EMCC offensive line that has helped the Lions rank fifth nationally in total offense yards (428.5 yds/gm) as well as rushing yards (217.3 yds/gm). The 6-foot-7 left tackle prepped at Memphis' Germantown High School.

On the defensive side of the ball, Kevin Norwood Jr., out of Theodore High School in Alabama, made an immediate impact along EMCC's defensive front following a redshirt season at Troy University. In the secondary, Donald Passmore III, a Terry High School product, was the Lions' second-leading tackler on the year with 58 total stops along with his team-leading eight pass breakups and two blocked kicks. Jathan Hatch, a bounce-back from the University of Louisville by way of Biggersville High School, was EMCC's No. 3 tackler this past year with 51 stops.

EMCC's second-team quartet earning all-conference honors was evenly distributed between the offensive and defensive lines. Davier Bishop, a product of Notre Dame College in his home state of Ohio, topped EMCC with nine tackles for loss, including six quarterback sacks, this past season. Darrell Gross, a Madison native out of Germantown High School, was credited with six tackles for loss as an EMCC sophomore. From the Lions' offensive line, sophomore Mike Wallace Jr., out of Itawamba Agricultural High School, benefitted from moving over to the starting center position and was joined on the division's second-team unit by freshman right tackle Julian Jakobe from Tupelo High School.

Honorable mention recognition for the Lions was earned by freshman receiver Christian Thomas, who ranks sixth in the MACCC with 43 catches after having bounced back from Jacksonville State by way of Shades Valley High School in Alabama, and freshman linebacker Ja'Cari Owens, a Louisville High School product who led EMCC with 61 total tackles, including 6.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage, this past year.