SENATOBIA – Northwest's swarming defense held visiting Gulf Coast to 22 yards in the second half and the Rangers outscored the Bulldogs 23-3 down the stretch to pull off its second NJCAA Top 20 win in six days with a 26-10 victory Thursday night.
Northwest improved to 2-0 with its first win over MGCCC since 2009. The Bulldogs fell to 1-1.
After spotting the Bulldogs a touchdown in the first quarter after a botched punt attempt, it was all Northwest as the Rangers gained 405 yards of total offense while holding MGCCC to only 150 yards.
Jim Speights put Northwest on the board with 6:43 to play in the second quarter, connecting on a 27-yard field goal. Northwest then took the lead, 10-7, on its ensuing possession, driving 55 yards on nine plays, capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass from
Gardner Minshew to tight end
Romeel Cochran.
Joshua Rowland's 36-yard field goal with 3 seconds left in the quarter made it a 10-10 game at the half.
Northwest's second and fourth drives of the second half both resulted in touchdowns with Minshew hitting
Marquisian Chapman in stride for 45 and 47-yard touchdown strikes, making it 23-10 Rangers.
The Ranger defense dominated the second half with sack after sack and did not allow Gulf Coast to cross the 50-yard line. Northwest finished with 15 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks, with
Jalen Harvey recording 3.5 sacks,
Chris Williams adding three and
Quondarius Qualls adding 1.5.
Speights' career-long 39-yard field goal with 5:42 to play made the final 26-10 Rangers.
Minshew finished 14-for-31 for 242 yards with three touchdown passes, connecting with seven different receivers. Chapman had 130 yards and two touchdowns on four catches.
Justin Crawford, who's chasing the school's all-time rushing record, quietly had 131 yards on the ground and two grabs for 15 yards.
Devante Davis,
Malik Hawkins and
Alfred Dickens each had six tackles apiece to lead all Rangers.
Northwest will host Northeast (0-2) next Thursday night, Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the north division opener for both teams.
