RAYMOND — After last week’s loss at home the main question was how would East Mississippi respond?

Answer: Just fine.

Behind a stellar defensive performance, along with the play of freshman running back Gavin Griffin, the 10th-ranked Lions ran past Hinds 43-3 in a key non-division MACCC contest at Joe Renfroe Stadium at Gene Murphy Field on Thursday night.

Both teams begin MACCC division play next week as East Mississippi (1-1) travels to Senatobia to face Northwest, while Hinds (0-2) will travel down to Wesson to face Copiah-Lincoln.

The Lion defense held Hinds to just 88 yards of total offense and just 10 first downs.

“Defense played well. I’m proud of the guys of how they responded with a lot of adversity this week and a lot of adversity in the game,” said East Mississippi coach Buddy Stephens. “It really got to be stupid ball for a little bit with all the penalties, but everyone settled down and played football and that’s the biggest thing and the guys played well.”

After recovering a fumble on the Hinds 22-yard EMCC got the board first as Bowling Green transfer Jaylen Jennings barreled into the end zone from 3 yards out, but the extra point was missed to give the Lions a 6-0 lead with six minutes left in the first quarter.

The Lions extended their lead 12-0 as Ty Keyes found Gavin Griffin on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 4:20 left in the second quarter.

The Lions stretched their lead out to 19-0 with 2:41 left before halftime as Ahmari Cox blocked a punt, and Antryvious Edwards picked the ball up in the end zone for a touchdown.

Griffin added a 2-yard touchdown run on EMCC’s opening drive of the second half to give the Lions a 27-0 lead after a successful two-point conversion with 11:03 left in the third quarter.

Griffin had 101 yards rushing on 11 carries with two touchdowns to lead East Mississippi offensively.

“We faced a lot of adversity, but we came out here and trusted each other and played well and got the job done,” Griffin said. “Offensive line blocked well for me to find the running lanes, so credit goes to them. We made a lot of mistakes last week against a good team and we learned from it. We came in this week trying to get better and better, and that’s what happened.”

Keyes finished 13-of-24 passing for 124 yards for EMCC. Chasden Collins had a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown and Cox had a 4-yard touchdown catch for the Lions.

“We know every week we’re going to get everyone’s best shot, and our biggest thing was putting a win or a loss behind us,” Stephens said. “We got to continue to get better each week and next week we got a big one on the road against Northwest. They’re very well coached, and it’s a tough place to play.”

Tanner Hollingsworth connected on a 20-yard field goal for Hinds to cut the EMCC lead to 34-3.

“Too many mistakes at crucial times for us,” said Hinds coach Larry Williams. “We’d make a play and then make a penalty. Stuff like that can’t happen against good teams.”