National Championship Preview: No. 1 East Mississippi vs. No. 2 Garden City

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Rarely does a day go by that East Mississippi Coach Buddy Stephens doesn't think about what could have been. Strange, considering his team has won four national titles during his tenure. But the 2016 season will always go down as a year that featured one of the best Junior College teams that never got a chance to play for it all.

"That 2016 team was loaded," Stephens said. "It was one of the more talented teams that we've had since I've been here."

That team was never afforded the chance to play in the big game. A fight late in the 2015 season in a contest vs. Mississippi Delta, forced the Lions out of the postseason that year and meant Stephens and most of his team were suspended for the season opener in 2016. The end result was a two-point loss to Jones; a game in which they suited up just 27 players. 

"We've seen some teams get upset about not playing in the National Championship Game in year's past," Stephens said. "But I felt we had a legitimate argument that we should have been playing."

Stephens is probably right. His team reeled off 10 straight victories, including back-to-back shutouts of Coahoma and Hinds. Yet, the National Championship invite never came, and instead, the Lions settled for a showdown with Kilgore in the Mississippi Bowl, a game they won 27-17.

"If you compare what we did that year compared to maybe Arizona Western, I think we should have had a chance," Stephens said. "But there isn't anything that we can do now."

The Lions more than atoned for their mishaps in 2015 and 2016 by rolling through their schedule in 2017 before taking down Arizona Western in the National Championship Game.

Nearly a 1,000 miles west in Kansas, Jeff Sims' squad was also making headlines. In 2016, a team that most people believe came out of nowhere; the same bunch that was picked to finish sixth in their own conference; won the program's first-ever national title. But what happened that year was no accident according to Sims.

"The 2016 season was a culmination of what we were building at the end of 2015," Sims said. "We caught some people by surprise, but we didn't surprise ourselves."

The following season, the Broncbusters came in as both conference and national favorites. But a week-three loss to Independence put their title hopes on life support before a home defeat to Hutchinson the following game ended all hope. But they salvaged the year, and after a 41-14 loss to No. 2 Iowa Western, the Broncbusters closed the season strong-winning four straight to reach their second straight bowl game.

"It took us a while last year to get going," Sims said. "We won some games that maybe we shouldn't have early on. But we got things right."

The 2018 version of the Broncbusters has been ready from the jump.

In years past, Garden City has relied on a stingy defense; ones who eventually suffocated opponents into submission. And while their defense has certainly had their moments this season, the Broncbusters have a Madden-type offense, one that can score in so many different ways.

"When we first got into camp, I saw a Division-I offense," Sims said. "I wasn't sure what we had on defense."

That offense, led by running backs Charles West and Dedrick Mills, leads the Jayhawk Conference in total yardage. They are the No. 1 ground attack in the country while West captured the NJCAA rushing title, becoming the first Broncbuster since Dwayne Crutchfield in 1979 to do so.

"We are averaging 400 yards per game, and we are doing it on the ground," Sims said. "That means we are literally running over people 60 to 70 times per game. That's impressive."

Garden City finished 10-0 for the second time in three years and the fifth time in program history. They scored 50 or more four times and won two games in the final seconds: a 16-13 victory over No. 2 Iowa Western in which Ben Raybon drilled two field goals in the final minute and a 24-21 thriller over fourth-ranked Hutchinson where David Moore engineered a 13-play, 84-yard drive before hitting Charles West on a six-yard touchdown pass to put the Broncbusters ahead for good.

"We maybe don't have those standout names on this year's team that we had in 2016, but this is a very good football team," Sims said.

Their regular-season success translated into postseason recognition, landing in the program's second national title game in three years while sporting 16 players on the All-Conference team. West won the Jayhawk Offensive Player of the Year, and Sims was named Coach of the Year.

The Lions entered 2018 as the No. 1 team in the country. After 11 games, they never moved, and besides a last-second field goal by Josh Smith to beat East Central, and a come-from-behind victory to upend fourth-ranked Jones in the state championship game, East Mississippi definitely lived up to their preseason hype.

"They're as a good a team as we've played in my four years here," Sims said. "And Buddy Stephens is the best coach in the country. He's proven it with results."

And the Lions come at you in so many ways. Their ground game, which is sparked by Notre-Dame transfer Deon McIntosh and Gulfport-native Keon Moore, who is 12th in the conference in rushing yards, is the most formidable Garden City has faced. Then there's quarterback Messiah deWeaver, who transferred from Michigan State and is rated as the No. 1 JUCO signal caller. He's second in the nation in completion percentage and 17th in yards. Who's he throwing it to? How about Dontario Drummond and his team-best 52 catches for 818 yards and 11 touchdowns. He's third in the nation in td receptions.

Then there's the defense, paced by linebacker Fred Hervey and his team-best 86 tackles. Tennessee-commit Darel Middelton mans a powerful defensive front and corners Jaquez Akins and Keilos Swinney have combined for seven interceptions.

That defense will be tested against West and Mills, the top rushers in the country and the first Garden City duo in 40 years to each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.

"I'll take these guys to play anyone," Sims said.

It's a matchup that should have happened two years ago. Now it's here, and the rest of the JUCO world will be watching.

"Coach Sims has a reputation of winning these types of games," Stephens said. "You couldn't ask for anything better."