MERIDIAN —
East Mississippi Community College showed why it is the No.1 team in the country Thursday night, as the Lions took down East Central Community College 51-7 at Bailey Stadium. The Lions suffocated the Warriors on defense, forcing the Warriors to turnover the ball four times.
“I thought our defense played great again,” EMCC head coach Buddy Stephens said. “We had a bit of a lull at first, but that is my fault.”
Things looked promising for East Central early on, as defensive back Desmond Brown intercepted a ball in the end zone to stop a Lion scoring drive. However, a fumble two plays later gave the ball back to EMCC at the Warrior 21-yard line.
Quarterback Quez Johnson got the scoring started for the Lions as the 6-foot-1, 225-pound quarterback muscled his way in on a quarterback sneak from one yard out to make the score 7-0 for EMCC.
Later in the quarter Johnson would find wide receiver Corey Smith for 24 yards and a score, as the speedy receiver juked and dashed his way past Warrior defenders to make the score 14-0.
“I kind of felt that I was going to score,” Smith said. “I just stepped out and Quez (Johnson) threw a great ball. After that I just turned it on and scored.”
Smith hauled in five catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns, as the Lions accounted for 339 yards in the air on the night.
“That’s what we do,” Stephens said. “We had an excellent opportunity to continue to do that as far as throwing the ball. We had an opportunity to throw the ball all night.”
Turnovers would continue to haunt the Warriors after a missed Lion field goal attempt gave ECCC an opportunity get some momentum. However, the Warriors would fumble on the next play on offense to set up an eventual Lion touchdown. EMCC would head into the half up 24-0.
“We should have been 7-7 heading into the half,” ECCC head coach Brian Anderson said. “Our players acted like they haven’t ever practiced before. Simple things like snap exchanges and handoffs we just didn’t do.”
In the second half it was much of the same story, as Johnson found Smith again this time on a 16-yard touchdown to put the Lions up 31-0 with. Later in the third quarter running back Rodriguez Moore burst through a tired Warrior defensive line to make the score 38-0.
The Warriors would not be shut out, however, as ECCC defensive back Deante Lawrence jumped in front of a pass from EMCC backup quarterback Dontreal Pruitt and returned it all the way back to the seven-yard line. Running back Martin Johnson would finally punch it in on fourth and goal for to give the Warriors touchdown and make the score 38-7.
The Lions would answer back for 13 more points as they eased their second win of the season.
Up next for ECCC (0-2) is a trip to Copiah-Lincoln next Thursday, while EMCC (2-0) will travel to Southwest Mississippi.
“Southwest is a very good team,” Stephens said. “They are very capable of beating you if you let them.”
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