MSU Transfer wins JUCO Title

When Messiah deWeaver first arrived at East Mississippi Community College, he had no idea what his time there would be like. He didn’t know anything about Scooba, Mississippi, which has a population of 924. He didn’t even know if he would like the people that he’d be surrounded by everyday.

But he did know one thing, that he was there to play football.

And that’s exactly what he did. He played football so well that the quarterback lead the East Mississippi Lions to win the national championship for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) on Thursday.

“It’s a blessing. It’s something that I worked hard for, my team worked hard for,” deWeaver told The Only Colors. “It was a goal I had when I got there so I’m just happy it came true.”

This win comes 11 months after deWeaver announced he was transferring from Michigan State. Before deWeaver left MSU last season, he was competing for the spot as third string quarterback as Brian Lewerke had solidified himself as the starter and Damien Terry was backup. DeWeaver only played in two games as a Spartan, attempting no passes and having -1 rushing yards.

Now, deWeaver has found success at EMCC as the starting quarterback. Going undefeated this season with the Lions, deWeaver finished with a completion rate of 68 percent and 10 touchdowns in 12 games for 1735 yards.

The accomplishments of deWeaver and his team seem to be in contrast to the season that MSU has just wrapped up. It’s no secret that the Spartans had struggles recently at the quarterback position with Lewerke having an injured shoulder most of the season and backup Rocky Lombardi being inexperienced at the collegiate level. This MSU offense was ranked at 144 in the S&P+ rankings, a low in the Mark Dantonio era.

“I still got a lot of good friends on the team. I still keep up and I still watch the games,” said deWeaver.

Graduating in December, deWeaver says things has been a little hectic for him lately. So far, he’s received offers from Central Michigan, Louisiana, Akron plus three others. However, he could potentially be looking at more offers after winning the title. He’s gained interests from Louisville, Louisiana State and West Virginia.

“I feel like everything I went through helped me in the long run… I wouldn’t go back on anything in my life football wise,” said deWeaver.

The number one team, EMCC beat the second ranked Garden City, 10-9. This is East Mississippi’s fifth title win in eight years. The junior college was also featured on the hit Netflix show, Last Chance U.