SCOOBA —     East Mississippi Community College began its national championship defense with a great effort from its defense Saturday.

    While the No. 1 Lions’ usual high-octane offense spent most of the lightning-delayed game in neutral, their defense kept EMCC in it and then led the way in a late pullaway for a 35-15 win against visiting Pearl River Community College at Sullivan-Windham Field.

    “I think it was a big-time defensive win,” EMCC coach Buddy Stephens said. “Did it look like we were faster than last year? I think we’re faster than last year, and so what we have to do is build our depth and we’re going to be OK.”

    The Lions did that despite a big passing day from Pearl River quarterback Dylan Favre, a transfer from Mississippi State. Favre, with his uncle Brett on the Wildcats’ sideline, completed 41 of his 61 attempts for 346 yards. However, the 6-foot, 185-pound sophomore, who was suspended from the Wildcats’ program for a time following a drug-related arrest, made a few costly mistakes late.

    The Wildcats, who have now dropped three of the four meetings with EMCC since Stephens and William Jones, both former Pearl River assistants left for Scooba, were driving for the go-ahead score early in the fourth. However on a first-and-10 from the EMCC 24, freshman running back Jamal Hall fumbled and Shaquille Fluker recovered for the Lions at the 17. It was just the first big play from the Meridian High product and Georgia commit.

    After the EMCC offense stalled, which was common on this day, Favre made his first big mistake on his 50th attempt of the game. There on a second-and-9 from the Pearl River 47, Jason Yarbor intercepted his throw at midfield and returned it to the Wildcats’ 25.

    “We’re a complete team,” said Yarbor, another MHS product. “We’ve got each others’ backs. We go against each other every day and we even have stats. They are up actually by two days, but we’re going to get ’em.

    “This means we had a great weekend. Well, we have to be back (today), so we had a great Saturday. We had a great Saturday now.”

    But once again, EMCC was unable to capitalize. Two Pearl River drives later and after the Lions pushed its lead to 28-15 with the first score on the second half and just 1:21 remaining in the game, Fluker again rose to the occasion. With the Wildcats’ facing a third-and-9, Fluker picked off a Favre pass at the Lions’ 44 and weaved his way through the Wildcats for a 56-yard touchdown return to end it.

    “I was just thinking about getting to the crib,” Fluker said. “I was just taking it to the crib.”

    Favre would throw another interception, this time to Byerson Cockrell with just 47 seconds left.

    “Turnovers hurt Pearl River there late,” Stephens said. “They are a good football team. And if you are in our offense, you can’t make turnovers because neither one of us is a ground-control game.”

    “If you make turnovers, it’ll kill you.”

    Prior to the late miscues, though, Favre and the Wildcats’ offense utilized a quick passing game to gain chunks of yardage. However, they were only able to muster two touchdowns and an early field goal.

    “We don’t want to get yelled at by coach Jones,” Yarbor said about minimizing damage. “Really, we love it. We just love it. We want to be out here every day.”

    Added Fluker: “We know that if our offense is struggling that their offense still has to score on our defense. So they shouldn’t score. And it’s hard to score as long as we’re running to the ball and making plays.

    “It doesn’t matter how close they get to the goal line or the end zone, it doesn’t matter. We still have to play hard because they have to cross that line.”

    And while the Lions’ defense was making it difficult on Pearl River, EMCC’s offense also was struggling.

    Freshman Quez Johnson, EMCC’s starting quarterback completed only 16 of 38 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns. However, before a strong finish in which he connected on his final six throws for 59 yards and a score, he was only 10 of 32.

    “That’s the first game Quez has started in two years, and he’s knocking a little rust off,” Stephens said. “You can practice all you want to and play against our good defense, but until you get out here and the bullets that are flying at you are real, that makes a big difference.

    “And Quez didn’t want to make a mistake. And I think he was playing too much not to make a mistake and we have to get him a little more free. But he had no turnovers, and in our offense, that’s amazing because we put the ball in the air so many times.”

    And with Johnson out of rhythym, so too was EMCC’s offensive attack. The Lions had six three-and-outs and twice turned the ball over on downs, including the game’s first possession where they squandered a 58-yard kickoff return from Southeast Lauderdale’s LeDarious Clark. EMCC finished with 359 yards of offense.

    Following the early turnover on downs, the Wildcats quickly moved from their own 40 to the Lions’ 21. However, the drive stalled at the 15 and PRCC had to settle for a 31-yard field goal from Brandon King to take a 3-0 lead with 11:05 left in the first quarter.

    In a seesaw first half, EMCC answered right back. In eight plays, the Lions covered 80 yards to take a 7-3 lead when Rodriguez Moore darted 39 yards untouched on a fourth-and-1 play. Moore, who rushed for more than 1,300 yards a year ago, led the Lions with 112 yards on just 16 carries.

    Pearl River regained the lead with a 14-play drive that was extended by an EMCC penalty and lasted seven-and-a-half minutes. The Wildcats capped the marathon drive with a 5-yard Favre pass to a wide-open Shawn Jones on a fourth-down play.

    Once again, EMCC had the answer. Taking advantage of a Pearl River penalty to keep the drive alive, Johnson hit Moore for 16 yards to pick up a first down and then connected with Corey Smith on a 60-yard catch-and-run score with 8:10 left before halftime.

    Pearl River then took advantage of a short field as a result of another Lion penalty, scoring on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Darius Holder with 4:18 remaining in the half.

    Less than a minute later, EMCC took the lead back for good. Clark again provided a jolt with a 74-yard kickoff return to the Wildcats’ 26 and four plays later, Johnson found a wide-open Nick Brassell, an Ole Miss transfer.