SCOOBA — Sophomores Leon Berry and Jamar Hornsby of East Mississippi’s 10th-ranked football team have been named to the 2008 NJCAA All-American Second Team, as announced this week by the National Junior College Athletic Association. EMCC freshman quarterback Randall Mackey also earned Honorable Mention All-American accolades by the national office headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo.

A two-time NJCAA All-Region 23 performer for the Lions, Berry starred for EMCC as both a wide receiver and kick return specialist.

The Griffin, Ga., native ranked 13th nationally for Region 23 Coach of the Year Buddy Stephens’ 8-2 Lions with 661 receiving yards on 39 catches for an average of 16.9 yards per grab, including five touchdowns. For his accomplishments this past season, Berry was also named NJCAA All-Region 23 First Team as a wide receiver, along with earning MACJC All-State First Team/North Division honors as both a wide receiver and kick returner.

For his two-year career at East Mississippi, Berry had 59 career receptions for 1,003 yards (17.0 yards per catch) and nine touchdowns. The versatile 6-foot-1, 185-pound performer also returned 43 kickoffs for 1,125 yards for an average of 26.2 yards per return.

A ransfer from the University of Florida, Hornsby ranked among the national defensive leaders with 111 total tackles on 64 solos and 47 assists this past year for EMCC’s North Division champions.

The Jacksonville native was also selected to the 2008 NJCAA All-Region 23 Team, in addition to being honored as the most valuable player among the North Division’s defensive backs as a 2008 MACJC All-State First Team recipient.

A hard-hitting athlete who played free safety on EMCC’s Top 10-ranked pass defense unit, Hornsby tied for third on the club with two interceptions (for 47 total yards) this past year. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound defensive back was credited with double-digit tackles in five of his last seven games in 2008, including season-best, 16-tackle outings against Northwest Mississippi, Coahoma and Mississippi Delta.

Having led the nation in passing yards per game (281.8) and ranked second in total offense (330.4 yards per game), EMCC’s Mackey was among six quarterbacks nationally to garner honorable mention status by the NJCAA behind Blinn College’s Terrance Cain and Garrett Barnas of Harper College. A former standout performer at Bastrop (La.) High School, Mackey was named the 2008 NJCAA Region 23 Most Valuable Player after throwing for 2,818 yards and 24 touchdowns on 193-of-320 (60%) passing for the year.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound signal-caller also rushed for 486 yards and four scores on 80 carries.

Berry and Hornsby become the first East Mississippi players to earn first- or second-team all-America football honors as accorded by the NJCAA since seven-year NFL veteran Milford Brown earned second-team laurels as a center in 2000. A native of Montgomery, Ala., Brown most recently played for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars after previous stints with the St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans.

As a team, East Mississippi’s No. 10 national ranking in the final NJCAA / JC Football.com Poll marks the school’s highest season-ending national ranking since coach Bob (Bull) Sullivan’s 10-1-1 EMJC club finished the 1963 campaign ranked seventh in the J.C. Grid-Wire national rankings.