RAYMOND — Two teams that received major offseason talent infusions slammed against each other for 60 minutes in a physical junior college battle Thursday at Renfroe Stadium.

East Mississippi Community College won the MACJC contest 20-17 over Hinds. EMCC running back Rodriguez Moore ran for 175 yards and quarterback Bo Wallace, a Tennessee native, passed for 189.

Hinds coach Gene Murphy managed to stay upbeat after the loss with the knowledge that his Eagles went toe-to-toe with one of the most talented teams in the state.

“It was very physical and I’m real proud of our players,” Murphy said. “We’ll correct our mistakes and go on. We know our season is all in front of us. We start our new season with our first South Division game next week at Co-Lin.”

Third-year East Mississippi coach Buddy Stephens was glad to get out of Raymond with a win.

“No doubt, these were two talented teams,” Stephens said. “We’ve got a pretty good defensive line and most of our secondary guys are going Division I, led by Justin Cox, who signed with Mississippi State.”

Up front is where the Lions shone brightest. At the defensive tackle spots, they had University of Alabama transfer Brandon Moore out of Montgomery (Ala.) and University of Tennessee commit Damien Jacobs.

Wallace isn’t bad either. He spent a redshirt season at Arkansas State last season, but on Thursday, he helped the Lions run off the final 6:02 after Hinds had pulled to within 20-17. He had a four-yard scramble to convert a third down and 2 yards to go situation at the Hinds 37. The first down moved the clock inside three minutes. His 6-yard toss to J.J. Harbin to convert another third down to clinch the win.

Hinds (1-1) stayed in the contest despite trailing by 10 points twice. The last was at 20-10 after East Misssissippi (2-0) scored on its opening possession of the second half on Moore’s 10-yard run.

The Eagles had a chance for points following EMCC’s score, reaching the East 27. But on third down, Autry sacked Hinds quarterback Deon Anthony for a 9-yard loss to knock the Eagles out of field goal range.