BOONEVILLE – Northwest made up for a slow first half by putting together a dominant second half performance as the second-ranked Rangers defeated Northeast 41-17 in Booneville on Thursday night.

Northwest improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the MACJC North. Northeast fell to 3-5 on the season and 2-3 in division play.

Northwest made some noise defensively to open the contest as Christian Cain picked off a Northeast pass, returning it to the Tigers' 17-yard line to put the Rangers in good field position on their first offensive possession. Six plays later, Jack Walker connected with Braden Smith on a short touchdown pass to the corner of the end zone to put the Rangers up 7-0 with nine minutes remaining.

Northeast would respond on its next possession, eating up a majority of the remaining time in the first quarter with a 13-play, 61-yard drive that resulted in a 38-yard field goal from Reed Collins.

With both defenses battling throughout the remainder of the first half, it was the Rangers' defense that would make the play of the second quarter, thanks to Quentin Wilfawn's 30-yard pick-six with 3:45 left in the first half. Northeast would block Cole Catalano's PAT but the Rangers took a 13-3 lead into halftime.

Less than two minutes into the second half, reigning MACJC and NJCAA Offensive POTW Jaquerrious Williams gave the Rangers a little breathing room with a short touchdown scamper that concluded a 6-play, 73-yard drive, pushing the Northwest advantage to 20-3.

It only took two plays on the next Northwest possession for the Rangers to go 77 yards down the field, highlighted by a 49-yard score from Urriah Shephard that extended the lead to 27-3 with 10:43 remaining in the third quarter.

Although the Rangers would give up a Tiger touchdown midway through the third, Williams would find the end zone once again with less than a minute to go in the quarter to push the Northwest lead back to a sizeable 34-10 margin.

Northwest would get one final score in the fourth quarter as Williams collected his third touchdown of the evening on a 4-yard carry, as the Rangers led 41-10 with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the contest.

Patrick Felton would hit Marquis Johnson for a late Tiger touchdown but the Rangers remained well in command over the final 10 minutes, pushing the all-time series record against Northeast to 40-18-2.

Waker completed nine of 24 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, while Chris Calvert led the way with 12 carries for 83 yards on the ground. Shephard and Williams rushed for 74 and 47 yards apiece, respectively, as Smith and Jacoby Jones led the receiving corps with a combined five receptions for 100 yards.

For the second consecutive game, freshman Kevin Smith led the charge on defense with nine tackles, followed by five apiece from Jarvis Townsend and Nijel McGriff. Wilfawn had eight total tackles to go with his first half interception.

Northwest will close out the regular season next Thursday, Oct. 24 against Itawamba at Bobby Franklin Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with live video and live stats available through nwccrangers.com.