SCOOBA — For the second time this month, an East Mississippi football player has been accorded NJCAA Player of the Week accolades. Freshman return specialist British Footman has been tabbed the NJCAA’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his standout performance in last week’s home win against Mississippi Delta.

  Footman compiled 212 return yards on three returns during seventh-ranked EMCC’s 28-10 home triumph a week ago. The first-year player broke a 7-7 tie late in the first half with an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown, marking his second scoring punt return in the last three games. The 6-foot, 175-pound speedster previously scored on an 84-yard punt return in the Lions’ 48-10 homecoming victory againstNortheast Mississippi on Oct. 10.

  After a 44-yard kickoff return earlier in the Delta contest, Footman set up EMCC’s third touchdown of the game by taking a kickoff 81 yards to the 4-yard line. The resulting score on the next play by reserve quarterback Brad Henderson gave the Lions a 21-10 lead early in the second half.

  For the year, Footman closed out the regular season ranked second among the state’s leading punt returners with an average of 17.4 yards per return, including the two touchdowns. He also finished the regular season ranked third among the MACJC’s statistical leaders in kickoff returns with an average of 29.8 yards per runback. 

  Footman’s selection marks the second time this season that the East Mississippi football program has been recognized nationally for weekly accomplishments by its student-athletes. Earlier this month, EMCC sophomore defensive end Claude Davis, an NJCAA Preseason All-American, was named the NJCAA’s Defensive Player of the Week following the Lions’ Oct. 10 homecoming win over Northeast Mississippi. A year ago, 2008 NJCAA Region 23 Offensive MVP Randall Mackey garnered NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts in EMCC’s 27-23 come-from-behind road win over then-No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast.

  Ranked seventh this week in the JC Grid-Wire National Top 25 and eighth in the NJCAA/JCFootball.com poll, head coach Buddy Stephens’ 8-1 EMCC Lions play host to 19th-ranked Jones County in the semifinals of the MACJC state football playoffs Saturday afternoon on the Scooba campus.  Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at EMCC’s Sullivan-Windham Field.  Tickets will be available for purchase on game day at a cost of $10 for adults and $5 for students.