Box Score WESSON – With Northwest leading by a touchdown heading to the fourth quarter of Saturday's MACJC Semifinal, the host and 11th-ranked Copiah-Lincoln Wolfpack rallied for 21 unanswered points to knock off the Rangers 44-30 and advance to the state championship game.

Co-Lin improved to 8-2, winners of six straight, while Northwest's season came to a close at 4-6.

Trying to play the spoiler role, things couldn't have gotten off to a worse start for the Rangers who went three-and-out on their opening drive of the game and watched Donald Gray return the punt 65 yards for a touchdown.

Northwest caught a break, however, a series later when Gray muffed a punt that was forced by Devante Davis and recovered by 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive lineman Andrew Herrington at the Co-Lin 32-yard line. Two plays later, Kyle Morgan hit Jamarius Mabry for a 24-yard touchdown pass to knot it at 7-7. 

Greg Nickels put Co-Lin back in front 10-7 on a 23-yard field goal with 6:51 left in the first quarter. Northwest's defense made a nice stand facing 1st-and-goal at the 6-yard line to force the field goal attempt. 

The Rangers would take their first lead of the game, 14-10, as the horn sounded to end the quarter, driving 86 yards on eight plays. Morgan connected with Mabry again through the air, this one from 37 yards out. 

After a Nickels 22-yard field goal pulled the game within 14-13, Northwest put together another lengthy drive and capped it with a touchdown on the ground – their 18th rushing TD of the year.

Three, hard runs by Justin Crawford of 8, 19 and 5 yards got the ball around midfield before Morgan hooked up with Jacob McCrary for 42 yards down to the Co-Lin 6-yard line. Terreous Johnson punched it in from 1-yard out on 4th-and-goal to make it 20-13 Rangers after a missed PAT. 

Nickels' third field goal of the half, this one from 46 yards, made it 20-16 at half.

Co-Lin's opening drive of the second half covered 65 yards on seven plays and ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Fitzwater to Germie Martin, giving the Pack back a 23-20 lead.

Northwest tied the game at 23-23 two series later on Jim Speights' 34-yard field goal and pushed ahead 30-23 on Crawford's 4-yard touchdown run with 1:26 left in the third. 

A gutsy onside kick call following the go-ahead score, possibly the turning point of the game, was unsuccessful and gave the Wolfpack the ball at the Rangers' 48-yard line. Five plays later, Fitzwater connected with Courtney Foy from 25 yards to tie it again at 30-30 with 14:05 to play.

Northwest's final four drives in the fourth quarter all stalled out and the Rangers never crossed midfield, allowing Co-Lin to score 21 unanswered to pull away for a 14-point win.

Co-Lin scored the eventual game-winning touchdown with 8:29 remaining, with Lakedric Lee rushing for a 12-yard score as part of an 8-play, 79-yard drive. Fitzwater and the Wolfpack put it away with a 71-yard touchdown pass to De'Lance Turner 2 minutes later.

Co-Lin piled up 466 yards of total offense against 350 for Northwest.

Morgan finished 9-of-26 for 189 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, while Fitzwater was 23-for-44 for 352 yards and three touchdown passes. Both quarterbacks were sacked three times.

Crawford rushed 25 times for 176 yards and a score, finishing as the state's leading rusher and NJCAA's third-leading rusher with 1,551 yards and 14 touchdowns. His 172.3 rushing yards-per-game is a new Northwest single-season record (old record was 166.7 set in 1987 by Ricky Blake).

Terry Caldwell had a game and career-high 19 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a sack to lead the Rangers on defense, with Malik Hawkins adding 10 tackles, Corey Brown adding seven and both Fred Garth Jr. and Jarcquarius Clark chipping in six apiece. 

Northwest's playoff appearance marked its 25th in the last 33 seasons.