East Mississippi opens at No. 4 in JCGridiron’s Dirty Thirty

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July 4, 2012

East Mississippi opens at No. 4 in JCGridiron’s Dirty Thirty

from staff reports The Meridian Star The Meridian Star Wed Jul 04, 2012, 10:26 PM CDT

MERIDIAN —     The defending national champions should still be a force to be reckoned with.

   At least that is what JCGridiron.com, a Rivals.com site, believes as it has East Mississippi Community College ranked No. 4 in its preseason Dirty Thirty rankings, which were released Wednesday.

   The Lions won their first NJCAA national championship last season, when they finished off a 12-0 campaign with a 55-47 win against host Arizona Western in the El Toro Bowl in Yuma, Ariz. EMCC also finished No. 1 in the Dirty Thirty rankings last season. The Lions also finished No. 2 in the rankings in 2009, when they ended the season 10-1 and MACJC state champions for the first time and defeated Arizona Western in the Mississippi Bowl.

   The Matadors were ranked No. 1 entering that game, just the latest top 5 opponent that EMCC defeated, joining Mississippi Gulf Coast, which was No. 2 in the nation before losing in the season opener and then the Bulldogs climbed back to No. 5 prior to losing the MACJC state championship game to the Lions for the second time in three seasons; and Northwest Mississippi, which was No. 4 during the third week of the season. EMCC also beat No. 12 Northeast Mississippi and No. 14 Hinds.

   However, EMCC lost a wealth of talent off its national championship roster, including record-setting quarterback Bo Wallace, who signed with Ole Miss; wide receiver and Kemper County product LaColtan Bester, who signed with Oklahoma, and defensive linemen Denico Autry, who signed with Mississippi State; Damien Jacobs, who signed with Florida; and Brandon Moore, who signed with Texas.

   “The 2011 East Mississippi program was the greatest team I have ever seen assembled at this level, but the Lions have a lot to replace and many of them are at key positions,” JCGridiron.com publisher Brad Hoiseth explained as his reasoning for the Lions’ ranking. “The main obstacle for an East Mississippi repeat performance will be a brutal schedule, playing in a state with arguably the most NFL-ready talent in the nation.”

   Sitting above EMCC in the Dirty Thirty rankings are Mt. San Antonio (Calif.) at No. 1, Arizona Western at No. 2 and City College of San Francisco at No. 3. Other MACJC schools ranked include Hinds (No. 9), Gulf Coast (No. 15), Holmes (No. 24) and Itawamba (No. 27). Northwest was listed on the bubble.

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East Mississippi opens at No. 4 in JCGridiron’s Dirty Thirty

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