BOONEVILLE – Northwest used a pair of Kevin Perkins 2-yard rushing scores and a 33-yard touchdown strike from Jack Abraham to Jerrick Orr in the second half to overcome a slow start and pull away for a 32-0 win over division rival Northeast Thursday night at Tiger Stadium. 

Northwest, ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA, won its sixth straight game to improve to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the north division, shutting out a fourth opponent in the last six games. The win also helped the Rangers claim their 13th division title in program history to go along with 12 runner-up finishes.

After a 40-yard completion from Desmond Hunter to Ross Painter on the first play from scrimmage, Northwest's stingy defense allowed just 74 total yards (minus-21 rushing) the rest of the night on 43 plays.

Northwest got off to a sluggish start offensively and led just 3-0 early in the second quarter on a season-long Drake McCarter 39-yard field goal. 

Abraham's 28-yard strike to JaVonta Payton with 43 seconds left in the first half gave the Rangers a little breathing room up 10-0, capping a nine-play, 71-yard drive.

The Rangers received the second half kick, which was an unsuccessful onside-kick attempt from Northeast, but couldn't capitalize in Tiger territory down to the 25-yard line. 

Northwest's second possession of the third quarter resulted in a score, with Quarderman Sloan and Perkins combining for six carries to move it down the field and Abraham finding Jerrick Orr for a big 27-yard gain. Perkins then muscled it in from 2-yards out and Cole Rotenberry added a two-point conversion on a bad snap to make it 18-0 with 3:48 left in the quarter. 

Northwest's defense pinned its ears back and continued to apply pressure, forcing three consecutive three-and-outs and using sacks from Keith Brown Jr., D.J. Reed and Nathan Perry.

Back-to-back touchdown drives early in the fourth quarter, a 33-yard strike from Abraham to Orr, and Perkins 2-yard rushing score, quickly made it 32-0 with just over 10 minutes left to play.

Northwest was then able to salt away the final 7:19 with a 10-play drive to preserve its fourth shutout of the year, the most since the Rangers' 1992 national championship season.

Abraham finished 20-of-31 for 212 yards and two touchdown passes, hitting Orr a game-high eight times for 102 yards and a score. Rotenberry added six grabs for 61 yards. Sloan had 112 yards on the ground behind Perkins' two scores.

Joshua Norwood had a team-high nine tackles – all in the first half – while Brown added eight tackles, two breakups and half a sack. The team finished with 10 tackles-for-loss, four sacks and five breakups.

Northwest has punched its ticket to the MACJC Playoffs for the 28th time in the last 36 seasons. The Rangers will welcome Hinds to Bobby Franklin Field on Saturday, Nov. 4 for a 2 p.m. kickoff in the MACJC Semifinals.