No. 4 EMCC Lions set to travel to top-ranked Hutchinson for NJCAA Division I Football Playoffs

SCOOBA – Back in the national championship hunt following a successful defense of the MACCC championship trophy, the fourth-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College (9-2) are set to travel to Kansas to take on the top-ranked and unbeaten Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons (10-0) during Saturday's (Dec. 2) semifinals of the 2023 NJCAA Division I Football Playoffs. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT at Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson, Kansas.  

The EMCC-Hutchinson playoff contest will be streamed live on ESPN+. Tickets are available for purchase online at njcaa.org/tickets. In addition, Saturday's semifinal matchup will be broadcast live by WFCA-FM (107.9), out of French Camp, with Glen Beard and Billy Begley slated to provide the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively. Along with the audio feed of Saturday's EMCC football broadcast being available online at emcclive.com and wfca.fm, the game's live-streamed audio will also be carried through EMCC's campus radio station, WGTC-FM (92.7), originating from the Golden Triangle campus in Mayhew.

In this weekend's other NJCAA football semifinal contest, reigning national champion and second-ranked Iowa Western (10-1) will play host to third-ranked Kilgore [TX] College (9-1) on Sunday, Dec. 3. Also slated to be streamed live on ESPN+, the IWCC-KC kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. CT at Titan Stadium in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The winners of the semifinal contests will advance to the 2023 NJCAA Division I Football Championship, presented by Zurich Insurance, set to take place in Little Rock, Arkansas, at War Memorial Stadium. The championship will be televised nationally by ESPNU on Wednesday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. CT.

With Saturday's playoff semifinal set to mark the first-ever gridiron meeting between East Mississippi and Hutchinson, the EMCC Lions are venturing out of the friendly confines of the Magnolia State this week for only the third time during the Buddy Stephens coaching era (since 2008). EMCC claimed its first of five NJCAA football championships during an eight-year span with a 55-47 win over Arizona Western at the 2011 El Toro Bowl played in Yuma, Arizona. The Lions' impressive run of previous national titles was capped by a gritty 10-9 victory over Garden City [KS] at the 2018 NJCAA eTeamSponsor Football National Championship Game played at Pittsburg State's Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg, Kansas. EMCC's middle three national championships were all earned on Mississippi soil in 2013, 2014 and 2017 during the Mississippi Bowl (Biloxi/Perkinston).

Having captured their ninth conference championship in the past 15 years under head coach Buddy Stephens with MACCC playoff wins at home over top-10 conference foes Mississippi Gulf Coast (33-21 in Nov. 11 semifinals) and Copiah-Lincoln (27-20 in Nov. 18 championship), the 9-2 EMCC Lions will be making their initial NJCAA Division I Football Playoff appearance since the NJCAA went to the four-team playoff system in 2021. East Mississippi is bidding to match six-time NJCAA champions Butler [KS] and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for the most all-time football team championships in NJCAA history.    

Through the years under Stephens' guidance, the EMCC Lions are a collective 3-1 against No. 1-ranked teams nationally. As the NJCAA's No. 2 team competing for national championships a decade ago, East Mississippi knocked off top-ranked Arizona Western, 55-47, at the 2011 El Toro Bowl in Yuma, Arizona, and then duplicated the feat two years later to claim a 52-32 win over No. 1-ranked Georgia Military at the 2013 Mississippi Bowl held in Biloxi. During their 2016 Homecoming Game versus reigning national champion and top-ranked Northwest Mississippi, the Lions posted a 51-32 victory over the Rangers en route to winning the conference championship and topping No. 13 Kilgore College, 27-17, in the Mississippi Bowl (Perkinston) to claim the No. 2 ranking in the NJCAA's final poll. Most recently (Nov. 2, 2019), then-No. 13 EMCC dropped a 31-7 road decision to No. 1 and eventual conference and national champion Mississippi Gulf Coast during the 2019 conference semifinals.

Overall dating back to the 2008 season, East Mississippi owns a composite record of 49-15 against nationally ranked opponents for a .766 winning percentage. Additionally under Stephens' direction, the Lions are 32-5 (.865) through the years while competing as the NJCAA's top-ranked team (3-0 in 2012; 10-0 in 2014; 1-1 in 2015; 0-1 in 2016; 5-1 in 2017; 12-0 in 2018; 0-1 in 2019; and 1-1 in 2021). 

Among the NJCAA Division I team statistical leaders, East Mississippi and Hutchinson match up comparatively in scoring offense and total offense, though the Lions and Blue Dragons demonstrate contrasting styles of offense leading to their impressive offensive numbers. As a team, EMCC ranks eighth in total offense (425.5 yds/gm), fourth in scoring offense (38.3 ppg), fourth in passing yards per game (284.5), and 18^th in rushing yards per game (141.1). Hutchinson stands 10^th in total offense (383.5 yds/gm), second in scoring offense (39.1 ppg), 27^th in passing yards per game (156.5), and fifth in rushing yards per game (227.0).

Defensively, Hutchinson tops the NJCAA Division I football ranks by limiting the opposition to an average of just 10.2 points per game, while EMCC ranks 11^th nationally in scoring defense (19.7 ppg). In total defense, the Blue Dragons and Lions are ranked fourth (236.9 yds/gm) and 22^nd (318.2 yds/gm), respectively, among the national team leaders.

Individually, both East Mississippi and Hutchinson had several players represented on their respective all-conference teams this season. Highlighted by MACCC North Division Offensive Player of the Year Ty Keyes and NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year Buddy Stephens, the MACCC champion EMCC Lions had a total of 21 players (4 first-teamers, 10 second-teamers & 7 honorable mentions) selected to the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference's 2023 All-North Division Football Team. A Southern Miss bounceback quarterback, Keyes was also a three-time MACCC Offensive Player of the Week selection this year.

The 2023 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference champion Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons featured a total of 26 players who earned recognition on the All-KJCCC Football Team. Along with head coach Drew Dallas being named the conference Coach of the Year, defensive end Daniel Brown was named the KJCCC Defensive Player of the Year, and quarterback Samari Collier was selected co-Offensive Player of the Year with Highland receiver Benson Prosper.