East Central Community College will be seeking a fourth-straight win over East Mississippi Community College when the longtime rivals begin season action Thursday in a 6:30 p.m. kickoff on the Scooba campus. The Warriors won last year's contest by a 24-21 margin, and posted 26-0 and 44-7 victories during the 2005 and 2004 campaigns, respectively.

ECCC head coach Terry Underwood, who begins his tenth season at the Warrior helm, expects Coach Roger Carr and his Lions to be "especially fired up" in hopes of snapping the losing skid.

"We've had a great rivalry with East Mississippi throughout the years and we expect they'll be ready to play," Underwood said. "Both teams will be hungry to begin the season on a positive note."

Underwood, who also serves as offensive coordinator, said first-year quarterback Deon Williams, a 5-10, 190-pound sophomore who transferred from Valdosta (Ga.) State, will lead the offense. Williams is a former standout at Tuscaloosa (Ala.) County. Also expected to see action at the quarterback spot is freshman Jacob Massey, a 6-4, 205-pound product of Union High School.

In the backfield, sophomore Roosevelt Ross (5-8, 190) of Ocala-Forest (Fla.) High School and freshman Maurice Langston (5-11, 180) of Northeast Lauderdale will see most of the action along with Lemario Hopson (5-8, 175) of Meridian but Marcus Travis (5-7, 200) of Petal, Courtney Shelton (5-10, 220) of Tuscaloosa Academy and Anthony McDonald (5-11, 230) of 71st High School in Fayetteville, N.C., are also expected to receive plenty of playing time.

Alternation at the wide receiver position will be Michael Townsend (6-2, 200) of Forest, Freddie Parham (5-11, 180) of St. Clair County HS in Margaret, Ala., Katlan French (5-9, 175) of Starkville Academy, Lamar Truman (6-0, 160) of Meridian and Kendrick May (5-10, 165) of Tuscaloosa County.

Starters at tight end will be Spencer Spane (6-3, 260) of Terry or Joshua Williams (6-1, 255) of Jackson Lanier. Lamar Clayton (6-4, 260) of Thomastown will also see action at tight end.

In the strong tackle spot will be Matthew Lewis (6-0, 270) of Forrest County AHS in Hattiesburg or Kieandre Jones (6-4, 342) of Hillcrest HS in Tuscaloosa. Strong guards are Marquis Harris (6-2, 320) and Zac Harris (6-3, 302), both of Meridian. Quintin Scott (6-1,330) of DeSoto Central and Justin Moore (6-2, 270) of Leake Academy will both see action at center. Quick tackles are John Bailey (6-0, 250) of Hillcrest HS or Terry Sparkman (6-4, 295) of South Leake, and at the quick guard position will be James Jenkins (6-2, 245) of Columbus or Robert Gaston (6-1, 280) of West Point.

Beau Hannah (6-2, 190) of Morton will handle kicking duties and Derek Crenshaw (6-2, 185) of Neshoba Central will do the punting. Both will share field goal and PAT responsibilities.

Parham, Langston and Jorrick Calvin (5-10,185) of Scotlandville Magnet HS in Baton Rouge will return punts and kickoffs.

On the defensive side, coordinator Steve Cheatham has named the following starters and other players expected to see playing time:

Cornerbacks: Travis Robinson (6-1, 190) of Hillcrest, Dameon Brown (5-10, 165) of Thomastown, Jorrick Calvin (5-10, 185) of Scotlandville Magnet HS in Baton Rouge, Fred Lyons (5-11, 175), a product of Newton County High School and Clint Coleman (6-1, 180) of Louisville; free safety: Ray Frierson (6-0, 180) of Hillcrest and Bruce Williams (6-3, 180) of Ridgeland; drop safety: Jarvis Wilson (6-1, 180) of Hillcrest and Ken Coleman (5-9, 200) of Louisville; strong safety: Bryon Rizzi (5-10, 190), St. Augustine (Fla.) High School; linebackers: Jamar Lawrence (6-1, 220) of Tuscaloosa County, David Brackett (6-1, 190) of Philadelphia, Brad Ellis (5-10, 240) of Forest and Harvey Brown (5-9, 235) of Neshoba Central; rush position: Vonzell Jackson (6-3, 235) of Aliceville (Ala.) HS and Chris Ivy (6-2, 225) of Louisville; defensive ends: Josh Lewis (6-4, 240) of Tuscaloosa County, Ken Whitfield (6-1, 245) of Louisville and McKenzie Patrick (6-0, 220) of Forest; defensive tackles: Mark Hoskins (5-11, 290) of Louisville or Jasen Fairley (5-10, 275) of Collins; nose guard: Quan Lowe (5-10, 260) of Holt HS and Henry Scott (6-2, 315), a product of Will Rogers HS, Tulsa, OK.

All Warrior football games can be heard on Kicks 98 (98.3 FM) featuring veteran sportscasters Melvin Wooten and Gilbert Barham.