SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College prepares to open MACJC North Division football action this week in unfamiliar territory.  

As the Lions get ready for today’s 7 p.m. home contest against Coahoma Community College at EMCC’s Sullivan-Windham Field, the two-time reigning NJCAA Champion Lions are looking to bounce back from a gridiron setback for the first time in 34 months.

While having their shot at tying the all-time NJCAA football standard of 26 consecutive wins thwarted during last Thursday’s 31-24 overtime road loss to now-No. 1 Copiah-Lincoln, the seventh-ranked EMCC Lions tasted defeat for the first time since dropping a last-second 47-46 decision to the same Co-Lin program during the 2012 MACJC State Semifinals (Nov. 3) played on the Scooba campus. Now 45-3 (.938) collectively dating back to their 2011 national championship season, the Lions had also previously compiled a 20-game winning streak before falling at Itawamba, 24-23, the week prior to their home playoff loss to Co-Lin in 2012.

In his eighth football season guiding the EMCC Lions, Buddy Stephens’ 69-11 (.863) career record includes a 39-3 (.929) collective mark against MACJC North Division opponents.  

With six division championships in seven seasons, including a current streak of four consecutive regular-season titles, East Mississippi’s only losses to MACJC North Division foes since 2008 came during the 2012 (at ICC) and 2010 (home losses to Northwest and Northeast) campaigns.

Along with being handed their first football setback in nearly three years, the Lions have also dropped out of the NJCAA’s Top 5 for the first time since being ranked eighth in the 2013 preseason poll. Up until the current week, East Mississippi had been ranked either first or second nationally by the NJCAA in 21 consecutive polls, including preseason and final season rankings.

In addition to marking the program’s first overtime contest played during Stephens’ seven-plus seasons at the EMCC helm, the Lions’ 24 points last week at Co-Lin were the fewest since their 24-23 setback at Itawamba to close out the 2012 regular season. The 31 points allowed by East Mississippi a week ago were the most surrendered by the Lions since claiming the 2013 NJCAA Championship with a 52-32 victory over Georgia Military in the Biloxi-hosted Mississippi Bowl.

Statistically for EMCC through the first two games, sophomore running back DJ Law ranks tied for sixth among the NJCAA’s rushing leaders with a per-game average of 121 yards on the strength of successive century-mark efforts on the ground. The Florida native is also tied for third among the team’s receiving leaders with seven catches for 71 yards on the year.

In the passing game for the Lions, sophomore quarterback Wyatt Roberts also ranks among the NJCAA’s Top 10 statistical leaders with an average of 259.5 yards through the air per contest. Led by sophomores Dario Robinson and Allenzae Staggers with team-high totals of 10 and eight receptions, respectively, 10 different EMCC players have collected multiple catches on the year.

Guided by second-year head coach Karl Morgan, the Coahoma Tigers bring a 13-game losing skid into Thursday’s EMCC contest since earning a 47-41 home win over Itawamba during Week 7 of the 2013 season. This season, CCC has fallen at home to Pearl River, 32-6, and most recently lost on the road to East Central, 46-13.

Dating back to Coahoma’s entrance into the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges in 1976, East Mississippi has prevailed in 38 of the previous 39 gridiron meetings between the two teams. During the most recent head-to-head meetings, the Lions have collectively outscored the Tigers, 173-14, winning 83-7 last season in Clarksdale and 90-7 two years ago in Scooba.