SCOOBA – In an NJCAA Top 10 showdown for a north division championship, it was homestanding East Mississippi who outscored Northwest 21-0 in the second half to pull away for a 49-16 victory at Sullivan-Windham Field Thursday night.
EMCC improved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the division. Northwest dropped its first game of the season to fall to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in division play. The Rangers host Coahoma to close the regular season next Thursday while EMCC visits Mississippi Delta.
After the game got off to a slow start for both teams, it was Isaiah Austin's 87-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left in the first quarter that put the Lions on the board first. The drive covered 99 yards on just three plays after
Jim Speights' 52-yard punt was downed at the 1-yard line.
Austin scored again minutes into the second quarter to make it 14-0, leaping over the top of the pile from 1-yard out.
Down a couple scores, Northwest put together one of its best scoring drives of the night after Austin's second score.
Gardner Minshew hit
Romeel Cochran for a 22-yard gain and
Justin Crawford for a 34-yard gain that eventually set up first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. But Northwest had to settle for a 19-yard field goal after a wide open drop in the end zone, pulling within 14-3.
Two plays and 41 seconds later, DJ Law raced for a 56-yard score to stretch the lead back to 20-3.
Once again Northwest came firing right back with a good drive, going 58 yards in only three plays. Minshew hit
Jacob McCrary for a 39-yard gain that set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Crawford. The ensuing PAT was blocked by, however, and returned for two points, making it a 22-9 game.
The teams traded touchdowns to close the quarter and EMCC led 28-16 at the break.
Northwest drove deep into EMCC territory on its opening possession of the third quarter thanks to
Marquisian Chapman's 43-yard gain, but three plays later, Minshew was picked off for just the third time this season by Ronald Ollie.
A couple of series later, the Lions put together another lengthy drive that covered 84 yards, capped off by a 39-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Roberts to Allenzae Staggers. The lead quickly grew to 42-16 with 5:28 left in the third when Crawford fumbled and the Lions scored a play later.
Roberts threw his third touchdown pass of the game early in the fourth, hitting Dario Robinson for a 20-yard score, to make the final 49-16.
EMCC outgained Northwest 552-418 on the night, finishing with 336 yards on the ground.
Roberts was 13-of-18 for 167 yards and three scores while Minshew finished 18-for-37 for 211 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Both running backs for both teams finished over 100 yards, with Law going for 112 and Crawford finishing with 115, his 10th straight 100-yard rushing game. McCrary led the Rangers' receiving corps with six grabs for 88 yards.
Malik Hawkins had a team-high 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack against a game-high 13 tackles for De'Arius Christmas for EMCC.
Willie McCaleb also had a nice game for Northwest, finishing with two tackles, a half a sack, breakup and a blocked kick.
Northwest will look to rebound next Thursday in Senatobia at 6:30 p.m., hosting Coahoma to close out the regular season.
The Rangers have already qualified for the postseason, their 26th playoff berth in the last 34 seasons, and will travel to 7th-ranked Gulf Coast on Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff time is to be announced.
