By By Mark Beason / Daily Journal
Sept. 19, 2004
FULTON A pair of high school rivals sank East Mississippi Community College's chances to score its first win of the season.
Former Shannon standout Ken Topps and former Amory star Quinton Meaders played key roles in Itawamba Community College's 28-18 win over EMCC on Saturday. The Lions fell to 0-3 for the season, and ICC improved to 1-2.
Meaders, who saw time on both sides of the ball, scored two touchdowns and intercepted a pass with time running out to seal the win.
Topps showed his athletic ability and arm strength, throwing for three touchdowns. His final touchdown pass on a broken play put the game away.
Leading 21-18, Topps improvised on a designed running play and hit Meaders in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.
ICC looked to take control of the game early.
Freshman wide receiver Nikita Stover returned the opening kickoff to the East Mississippi 39, and it took just one play for Stover to cover the rest. Topps found him open for a touchdown with 14:38 left in the first quarter.
ICC's offense stalled after the initial drive, with East Mississippi scoring 10 unanswered points.
Kicker Shawn Millson got the Lions on the board with a 32-yard field goal with 5:32 left in the first, and East Mississippi took the lead on its next drive.
Quarterback Rod Stevens threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Julius Randle to put EMCC up 10-7. The Lions took the three-point lead into halftime.
Itawamba got the lead back for good in the third, when Meaders scored on a 20-yard run with 7:36 left in the quarter.
The Indians' took a 21-10 lead after Topps threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to former Amory standout Andre Garth.
The Lions pulled with in three points of the lead with 8:37 left in the game.
Stevens connected with Stephen Harrison on a 14-yard touchdown, and the two-point conversion by Jarris Williams knocked ICC's lead down to 21-18.
After Topps hit Meaders for a touchdown to go up 28-18, Meaders came up with a big defensive play.
The Amory freshman intercepted a pass on East Mississippi's final possession to end the game.