Itawamba blasts past EMCC

By By Rocky Higginbotham / special to The Star
Sept. 26, 2003
SCOOBA One week ago, East Mississippi Community College ran through the Northeast Mississippi Community College defense like the wind.
Thursday night at Sullivan-Windham Memorial Field, the Lions got a taste of their own medicine.
Visiting Itawamba, sporting one of the state's most anemic offenses through the first three weeks of the season, rolled up 490 yards of total offense and pasted EMCC 41-26 in an MACJC North Division contest.
Three of those good players had monster nights for the Indians, and all of them have familar names.
Mississippi State transfer Ken Topps threw for three touchdowns and ran for another; former Noxubee County standout Lamarcus Windham caught two touchdown passes; and Don Rich a prized recruit from Pensacola, Fla. rolled up 200 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The Indians actually went three-and-out on their first two possessions, but scored consecutive touchdowns on the next three to turn a 7-0 deficit into a 21-7 lead. They never trailed again.
The Lions took a 7-0 lead when a scrambling Deangelo Dantzler hit a wide-open Niko Edwards for a 35-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter.
Topps found Windham on a 17-yard scoring strike for Itawamba's first score.
On the second play of the second quarter, Windham caught a pass in the flat and juked two defenders on his way to a 27-yard scoring reception. The PAT was blocked, but EMCC fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Itawamba recovered at the Lions' 27.
Two plays later, Topps broke out of a pack and raced 27 yards for a score, then he tossed the two-point conversion pass. Itawamba had 14 points in 22 seconds, and the Indians were up 21-7.
Bernard George picked off a Topps pass four minutes later, returning it 35 yards for a touchdown that pulled EMCC within 21-14. But the Indians answered back with a 9-yard bullet for a TD pass from Topps to LaMarcus Rowell.
Will Moseley's 40-yard field goal despite a bad snap on the last play of the first half pulled EMCC within 28-17.
Itawamba took the second-half kickoff and marched 69 yards on 10 plays for another touchdown, a 3-yard run from Rich that made it 34-17.
Thanks to a couple of big plays, EMCC had its chances to get back even. After the Lions recovered an ICC fumble, Moseley drilled a 38-yard field goal to make it 34-20.
After Topps was shaken up, EMCC stripped backup quarterback Dusty Goodwin of the ball and Louis Vaughn raced 73 yards with it to the Itawamba 17. Two plays later, John Henderson scored on a 5-yard run, and after a blocked PAT, the Lions were down 34-26.
EMCC blocked an Itawamba punt and recovered it just 6 yards from paydirt with 9:42 left, but Dantzler was intercepted by Randy Shumpert in the end zone to end the threat. The Indians then marched 80 yards for the game-clinching touchdown a 16-yard run by Rich, who had 200 yards on 29 carries.
Topps, despite an 11-yard loss on a sack and two kneel-downs, had 143 yards on 16 carries and Windham had three catches for 45 yards.
Itawamba rolled up 26 first downs to just nine for EMCC, and the Indians ran an incredible 84 offensive plays to the Lions' 54. East Mississippi had 216 yards.