Scooba, Miss. - Northeast Mississippi Community College's football program is ready to tangle with its second nationally ranked opponent in as many road games this Thursday evening.
The Tigers travel to East Mississippi Community College for a matchup of teams that both won their respective Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division openers. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field.
Those that cannot attend the game can watch it live on NEMCCTV, which is the new broadcast home of all nine Northeast intercollegiate athletic programs. Join Jeremy Kennedy, the Voice of the Tigers, at 6:45 p.m. for the pregame show by visiting www.nemcctv.com.
Fans can also keep up during the contest with in-game updates on Twitter by searching and following @NEMCCTigers.
The Tigers would snap a 15-game winning streak by the Lions with a victory over the defending state and national champions. East Mississippi sits at No. 1 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) rankings.
Northeast hopes to keep its positive vibes from the first recorded overtime triumph in program history. The Tigers defeated rival Northwest Mississippi Community College last week to win their first league matchup on the schedule for the second straight season.
"We're excited about the challenge, especially with the momentum we have going into the game," said Northeast head coach Ricky Smither. "Our plan is to go down there, play with them and sneak out with a win."
Brett Thompson looks to continue his improvements at the quarterback position. The reigning MACJC Offensive Player of the Week from Olive Branch was 8 of 14 after halftime with four touchdown passes versus the Rangers.
The matchup should feature plenty of action through the air. Clemson University transfer Chad Kelly paces the Lions with nearly 900 passing yards and 11 touchdowns through three contests.
Both squads include as many wideouts into their plans as possible. Fourteen separate athletes have caught at least one pass for East Mississippi, including Kameron Myers and his 21 grabs, while LaVontis Smith and Donta Armstrong head a Tiger receiving core that has nine independent threats.
The conference foes are nearly even in the rushing department. DJ Law guides the Lions with 257 yards while Northeast's Corbin White has toted the pigskin 59 times for 246 yards.
Jamel Dennis returned to true form against Northwest after notching only three tackles in his previous outing. The Lafayette County High School graduate notched a game-high 13 stops and recovered his second fumble of the campaign.
Marcus Robinson and Mario Virges follow Dennis with 20 tackles apiece to anchor a solid set of linebackers for the Tigers that are tasked with shutting down Kelly and the Lions' receivers.
"The stuff that East Mississippi does really fits in to what Jamel and Marcus does best," Smither said. "Mario is just a hard nosed kid that's going to be in the middle of the box stopping the run."
Lorenzo Phillips tops the state in sacks with 5.5 for a loss of 33 yards to direct the defense for the Lions. However, Justin Lucas is their top contributor with 23 total tackles.
Jacob Meeks was solid during his first start as Northeast's punter one week ago. The Kossuth native shifted the field position nicely with an average of 42 yards per boot and also had four punts that were downed inside the 20-yard line.
"We've got to come out and have confidence and execute," said Smither. "We have to be on the same page, not make any careless errors on offense and really compete."
The Tigers and East Mississippi have split their last two meetings in Scooba, but the Lions boast a 35-18 advantage in the all-time series and hold three victories in a row over Northeast.