Box Score SENATOBIA – Trailing 28-7 at the half to the nation's 10th-ranked team, Northwest held Jones County scoreless in the second half and rallied for 13 unanswered in the fourth quarter before falling 28-20 in the season-opener for both teams Thursday night at Bobby Franklin Field.

Jones now leads the all-time series 31-15 and has won five of the previous six meetings overall.

JCJC looked to take control early, driving 48 yards on 15 plays and eating up almost 7 minutes off the clock, before Brandon Mack picked off Kenny Coleman at the 5-yard line to keep the game scoreless.

A series later, however, Rodregus Ducksworth put JCJC on the board first, hauling in a 34-yard pass from Coleman with 6:06 remaining in the opening quarter. 

Northwest came up empty its first three drives despite great starting field position from their own 48 and the JCJC 43-yard line. But they would break through thanks to a shanked punt from Patrick Ponder early in the second, taking over from the JCJC 33. Two plays later, Karsten Miller hit Jalen Gaston in stride from 34 yards for the tying score with 12:22 left in the half.

Another lengthy Bobcat drive led to the second score for JCJC, as they covered 73 yards on 11 plays, capped by Coleman's 18-yard TD pass to Joe Pack. The lead grew to 21-7 on the ensuing series when Tevin Moore rushed in from a yard out.

Miller drove Northwest down to the JCJC 33-yard line late in the second but threw one of his two first half interceptions to give possession back to the Bobcats. His second INT set them up at the Rangers' 9-yard line where a play later Coleman hit Jervohnte Riles for a TD and a 28-7 halftime lead.

Marcel Newson took the second half kickoff into JCJC territory at the 45-yard line but once again the Rangers couldn't capitalize on field position and their drive stalled out at the 16 on a failed 4th-and-1 attempt.

A 9-play, 65-yard drive into the fourth quarter, after a scoreless third, pulled Northwest within 28-13. Miller hit Gaston for a second time, this one from 35 yards. The PAT from Jim Speights was no good. 

With the clock winding down to under a minute to play, Northwest cut it to 28-20 when Miller hit fullback Quandez Lee from 2 yards out.

The ensuing onside kick attempt failed and JCJC eventually ran out the clock for the road win. 

Northwest outgained JCJC 336-300 on the night but was just 1 of 3 in the red zone and 4 of 16 on third down.

Miller threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns on 18 of 31 aim but threw two interceptions and was sacked six times. Gaston had six grabs for 133 yards and two scores and Jamarius Mabry had seven catches for 97 yards. On the ground, Justin Crawford had 19 carries for 64 yards.

Terry Caldwell had a game-high 12 tackles and a fumble recovery in addition to 10 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, a sack and blocked kick by Malik Hawkins. Ole Miss signee Chris Williams had eight solo tackles.

Northwest will travel to 9th-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast on Thursday, Sept. 4 for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Live video will be available at www.mgcccbulldogs.com courtesy of the home team as well as live stats here sidearmstats.com/northwestms/football, courtesy of Northwest.