Phillips, East Mississippi to play for NJCAA national title

For former Patterson High standout and LSU football player Lorenzo Phillips, a National Junior College Athletic Association Championship would be just the beginning of his redemption.
Phillips, currently a sophomore defensive lineman at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, will play in the NJCAA Football Championship game Saturday at the Mississippi Bowl in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Phillip transferred to EMCC from LSU last year because of academic reasons, according to East Mississippi Sports Information Director David Rosinski, and he has made a tremendous impact on East Mississippi’s defensive unit this season.
“As a person, this experience has changed my life completely,” Phillips said Thursday. “They’ve taught me how to buckle down in the classroom and on the field. I saw a lot of places I made mistakes in the past, and they’ve given me the opportunity to fix things before it’s too late.”
Entering Saturday’s game, top-ranked EMCC has a 23-game winning streak.
Against Saturday’s opponent, No. 2 Iowa Western Community College, EMCC will try to win their second consecutive national championship and third in the last four years.
“Don’t get me wrong, you live to play in these types of games,” Phillips said. “But a championship would be just the first step for me. I still have to complete my school work and make sure I have everything turned in to graduate, so I can move on with my career.”
Phillips, who stands 6-feet 3-inches and weighs 230 pounds, is on pace to graduate this month and will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Phillips is a key contributor on East Mississippi’s defense. He is among the national leaders, having recorded 13 sacks this season. He has 41 tackles (31 solo and 10 assists), including 17 tackles for loss. His other stats include two fumble recoveries, which he returned for touchdowns, two forced fumbles, nine quarterback hurries and also recorded a pass breakup.
EMCC’s defense is allowing just 6.7 points per game with shutouts in its last five games.
While Phillips has been a standout for East Mississippi, he said the team has “impact players” throughout the defense.
“I couldn’t do this alone,” he said. “We have impact players on every level of this defense, and I love playing with these boys. We really have a great defense, and they push me to give my all. I am very lucky, my defensive coordinator (Jordan Lesley) took me under his wing and he’s put me in position to make plays.”
Phillips play has made him a target for several schools, including Texas A&M and Georgia, who both have offered scholarships to the one-time four-star high school recruit.
“I can pretty much go anywhere I want to,” Phillips said. “It was hard to say no to all of these colleges the first time around. I couldn’t make up my mind on where I wanted to go. Once I got here (EMCC), I decided to take things slow, but it’s a great feeling to hear from schools like Georgia, A&M, UCLA and LSU again because it means I’m on the right track. I’m more mature now, and I know what to look for as far as the classroom and the football field.”
In addition to tying Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for the most all-region football selections in the state of Mississippi this year, the EMCC Lions also earned 11 of the 25 first-team selections on the 2014 All-North Division First Team. For the second year in a row, East Mississippi swept the North’s MVP accolades with Phillips selected as the top defensive lineman.
While Phillips normally wears No. 20 as his jersey, he has been wearing No. 3 during the last three games in honor of injured teammate, sophomore wide receiver Kameron Myers, the Lions’ leading receiver when he was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
In high school, Phillips helped Patterson to an undefeated regular season in 2011. He was a member of the ESPNU 150 and he was ranked as the No. 24 linebacker in the country by Scout.com and No. 29 by Rivals.com. Phillips was also named a Times Picayune Blue-Chip recruit after earning Class 3A All-State first-team defense honors in 2010.
He redshirted as a true freshman in 2012 at LSU.