SCOOBA — New No. 1-ranked and reigning state champion East Mississippi Community College returns home to play host to Itawamba Community College during Thursday’s MACJC North Division action on the Scooba campus. Kickoff for EMCC’s home division football opener is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field.

Taking advantage of previously top-ranked Arizona Western College’s open week, the 3-0 EMCC Lions edged the Matadors by a single vote (137-136) and grabbed five of the nine first-place votes to flop spots at the top of the national rankings. This marks the seventh consecutive year that East Mississippi has been No. 1 in the NJCAA football rankings at some point during the season. Most recently, the Lions were rated No. 1 nationally in the 2015 and 2016 preseason polls after sitting atop the rankings for most of the 2014 campaign on the way to capturing their third national championship in four years.     

Following season-opening home wins over MACJC South Division powers Jones County (47-34) and Mississippi Gulf Coast (49-10), the 2017 Lions opened division play in dominating fashion by blanking Northeast Mississippi 59-0 on the road last Thursday to improve their overall winning streak to 14 consecutive games and extend their division win string to 25 straight contests dating back to the 2013 season. A week ago in Booneville, East Mississippi outgained Northeast 374-91 in total offense yards and 23-4 in first downs.

Guided by fourth-year head coach Sean Cannon, Itawamba broke into the win column in a big way last week by claiming a 27-24 home triumph over then-No. 5 Northwest Mississippi. With their three decisions thus far on the year having been decided by only eight total points, the Indians previously dropped close decisions to MACJC South Division foes Mississippi Gulf Coast (42-41 in Perkinston) and Hinds (35-31 in Fulton). Prior to being promoted to head coach in 2014, Cannon spent the previous four seasons as ICC’s defensive coordinator and assistant head coach on Jon Williams’ staff.

EMCC’s Stephens, the school’s career wins leader (90-12) and the NJCAA’s all-time leader in career winning percentage (.882) for coaches with 100 or more career games coached, owns an 8-1 career record against Itawamba (3-0 in Scooba, 4-1 in Fulton & 1-0 in West Point). A year ago (Sept. 22) in Fulton, the Lions and Indians combined for 1,530 yards of total offense and 86 points while running 187 total offensive plays between them before the visitors came away from Eaton Field with a 44-42 victory. Most recently in Scooba, EMCC claimed a 48-24 home win over ICC two years ago (Sept. 26, 2015).

While sporting a current 25-game home winning streak over the past five seasons, the EMCC Lions are collectively 66-4 overall, including a 35-1 composite home record, spanning back to the 2011 campaign when East Mississippi’s new Sullivan-Windham Field opened.