SENATOBIA – In an instant classic Saturday afternoon at Bobby Franklin Field that featured plenty of offense and hard-hitting, game-changing plays all over the field from both teams, No. 1 East Mississippi rallied from a touchdown deficit with eight seconds left in regulation and connected on a 2-point conversion in double overtime to beat No. 4 Northwest 67-66 in the MACJC Championship game.
Northwest and EMCC showcased their revived rivalry in front of another capacity crowd and proved that they are the two best junior college teams in the state of Mississippi. The Rangers still lead the all-time series 41-24-1.
EMCC improved to 10-1 and has all but solidified its spot in the NJCAA national championship game next month, while Northwest fell to 8-2 and had a 16-game home winning streak snapped. The Rangers will await one of nine possible bowl bids, which will be announced this week.
What was a 23-17 EMCC lead at the half turned into an absolute shootout in the second.
Tyrell Price's third rushing touchdown of the day matched the Lions' largest lead, 37-24, with 40 seconds left in the third quarter before the Rangers came storming back in the fourth.
A six-play, 89-yard scoring drive, capped by an 18-yard strike from
Jack Abraham to
Quarderman Sloan, cut the deficit to 37-31, and minutes later, a
Marlon Character Jr. blocked field goal would setup another Ranger score.
A high snap on a 36-yard Taylor Crabtree field goal attempt led to the block and was returned by
Chris Stamps into Lion territory. Five plays later, Abraham hit Jerrick Orr for a 12-yard touchdown to put Northwest on top 38-37 with 10:11 to play.
With all the momentum on the Rangers' side,
Turner Rotenberry stepped in front of a Lindsey Scott Jr. pass on EMCC's ensuing drive and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown to cap 21 unanswered points and send the Northwest crowd into a frenzy. It was Rotenberry's third pick six of the season and fourth of his Ranger career, a new school record.
Leading 45-37 with 8:03 to play and trying to salt away the clock while moving the chains, a
Monta Thomas fumble on the Rangers' own 49-yard line gave the Lions new life.
EMCC would capitalize just 38 seconds later, with Scott finding Price on the Northwest sideline and taking it the distance 44 yards for a touchdown. The 2-point conversion from Scott to Mike Williams was good to tie the game at 45-45 with 4:27 left.
Northwest calmly put together a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive to push back ahead 52-45, with Abraham finding
JaVonta Payton for a 7-yard touchown. Abraham was 4-for-5 on the drive for 56 yards.
Northwest had it first-and-goal at the EMCC 7-yard line with the chance to run more clock, possibly scoring too early to give the ball back to the nation's second-ranked offense with 2:06 left.
Scott and EMCC went to work from their own 33-yard line and proceeded to drive 67 yards in 1:55, finding the game-tying touchdown to make it 52-52 with eight seconds left when Scott found Dontario Drummond from nine yards out.
Northwest won the toss in overtime and elected to go on defense first.
EMCC only needed two plays to find the go-ahead score, with Scott finding Daniel Crowell Jr. from 19 yards to make it 59-52.
A 14-yard completion from Abraham to
Demarcus Jones down to the 11-yard line setup
Kevin Perkins' third rushing score of the day to tie the game again at 59-59 to force double overtime.
The Rangers only needed one play, a 25-yard strike from Abraham to Orr, to go ahead 66-59 in the second overtime.
With EMCC facing third-and-five at the Northwest 20-yard line, Scott found Drummond again for the touchdown and the Lions elected to go for two. A perfect play call then allowed Scott to find a wide-open Crowell in the left side of the end zone for the 67-66 win.
The teams combined for 1,302 yards and 18 touchdowns on 175 plays, but it all came down to the two-point conversion in double overtime to decide a winner.
Abraham was 34-of-52 for 487 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, connecting with Orr a team-high 10 times for 122 yards and two scores. Perkins finished with 116 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Scott was 29-of-44 for 471 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, with Drummond catching 11 passes for 131 yards and three scores. Scott added 104 yards on 20 carries.
Emanuel Bridges led EMCC defensively with 20 tackles, a forced fumble and interception. Rotenberry had 14 tackles and an interception in addition to 11 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 TFL for
Keith Brown Jr.
Northwest sacked Scott six times on the day, two apiece from
Hal Northern, Brown and
Tariqious Tisdale.
Bowl matchups will be announced this week on NJCAA.org and on Twitter @NWCC_Rangers.
