ELLISVILLE - Clinging to a six-point lead with less than a minute remaining and facing a determined Jones College offense, Northwest needed a defensive stop in the biggest way possible.

No. 5 Northwest was aiming to squeak out an upset against a hungry, third-ranked Bobcat squad in the MACCC Semifinals and despite taking a 20-7 lead at halftime, the Rangers now found themselves with their backs to the wall, needing a way to slow down a Jones offense that was lined up on the Rangers' 23-yard line with less than a minute remaining

With a prolific Jones offense threatening to take the lead, and quite possibly the game itself, the Rangers' defense bent but didn't break, stuffing the Bobcats on three straight plays. With a timeout and 38 seconds left on the clock, Jones' Quaterius Hawkins kept the ball himself on 4th & 11, rushing for nine yards before being stopped in his tracks by Roderick Daniels and Rontavious Person two yards short of the first down.

For Northwest, it was the stop of the season, allowing the Rangers to line up for victory formation and a 26-20 MACCC Semifinal victory, successfully avenging an early-season loss to the Bobcats. The win improved NWCC to 8-2 on the season and gave the Rangers their third-straight appearance in the MACCC Championship, and the sixth one in seven years.

Jones struck first on a nine-play, 77-yard drive that resulted in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hawkins to Bud Tolbert, but the Rangers responded with 20 unanswered points to stun the home crowd in Ellisville.

Northwest started the scoring barrage with 4:55 left in the first quarter, as Jaquerrious Williams scored from three yards out to tie the game at 7-7. The Rangers would quickly get the ball back on the ensuing kickoff, as Tanner Gillis recovered a Bobcat fumble to set up a 35-yard field goal from Eli Hamlin, giving Northwest a 10-7 lead late in the opening quarter.

After Jones came up empty on the final possession of the first quarter, Northwest embarked on a nine-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in an eight-yard touchdown pass from Michael Hiers to Kevin Diaz, allowing the Rangers to push the lead to 17-7 early in the second.

Jones' next possession ended as quickly as it began, as Hawkins was intercepted by Jarvis Townsend on just the second play of the drive. Although the Rangers were unable to come up with anything on the offensive side of the ball, Northwest saw its defense step up again late in the second quarter, forcing another Bobcat punt near midfield.

With 4:26 left in the second quarter, the Rangers ate up the clock and drove 72 yards on 17 plays, ending the first half with a time-expiring field goal from Hamlin that sent Northwest to the locker room ahead 20-7.

Jones College started with the ball to open the second half and it quickly became clear that the Bobcats had some momentum to go with it. A nine-play drive ended with a short touchdown run from La'Damian Webb, but Brody Pierce missed the extra-point attempt, keeping Northwest ahead by seven, 20-13, with 11:01 on the clock.

Northwest responded by going on an 11-play, 67-yard drive of its own, but a rare field goal miss from Hamlin allowed the Bobcats to get the ball back with no damage done.

With 4:34 left in the third quarter, the Bobcats drove downfield looking to snatch the lead back. Jones made it out to the Rangers' 32-yard line, but the Bobcats were stuffed by the Northwest defense, failing to convert on 4th & 4, turning the ball over on downs as the third quarter came to a close.

Northwest would get a little bit of breathing room early in the fourth quarter, as Hiers capped off a 74-yard drive with a short keeper into the end zone. Despite the score, Jones picked up a small victory with Shaheim Carroll blocking Hamlin's PAT, while the Rangers stretched the lead to 26-13.

It took only six plays for Jones to respond, as Hawkins hit Qua Sanders on a 50-yard touchdown pass, pulling the Bobcats within 26-20 and just 8:21 remaining in regulation.

After Northwest was forced to punt on its next possession, the Bobcats quickly marched down to the red zone, knocking on the door of another score. Choosing to go for a shot at the end zone on fourth down, Hawkins' pass was picked off for the second time by Townsend, giving the Rangers the ball with 3:20 remaining.

Although burning the clock was on the mind for the Rangers, Northwest came up short of a much-needed first down, allowing the Bobcats another chance with 2:13 remaining in the contest.

Starting on the Rangers' 39-yard line after a solid 26-yard punt return from Lardarius Webb, the Bobcats quickly found themselves back on the cusp of the red zone as the clock ticked under a minute remaining. However, as mentioned earlier, the Northwest defense stood tall one last time, denying the game-winner from the Bobcats and sealing the semifinal victory in a hostile environment.

Northwest logged 421 yards of total offense, including 225 on the ground. Williams led the Rangers' rushing attack with 105 yards, his sixth straight 100-yard rushing performance. Jamarien Bracey also totaled 79 rushing yards, while Hiers finished 16-of-22 through the air with 196 yards. D.T. Sheffield finished as the top receiving target, hauling in six catches for 88 yards.

Jones College totaled 413 yards of offense, primarily led by 244 passing yards from Hawkins. His top target, Kendall Coleman, picked up 100 yards on four catches, followed by 76 yards on three receptions from Sanders. On the ground, Webb notched 125 of the Bobcats' 169 rushing yards.

Defensively, the Rangers were led by a season-high 10 tackles from Kylan Robinson, followed closely by nine tackles from Person and eight from Fred Watson, Jr. Byron Pearson and Sam Brumfield totaled seven tackles apiece, while Townsend collected five to go with his two interceptions.

With the win, Northwest now turns its attention to the MACCC Championship contest against 10th-ranked Hinds. The Eagles (8-2) earned a 42-41 overtime victory at top-ranked East Mississippi on Saturday, giving the Lions their first loss of the season.

This will be the first conference championship appearance for Hinds since 2004, but the Rangers and Eagles have had some postseason history since then. The two teams last met on November 4, 2017, when Northwest earned a 27-13 semifinal victory against a 12th-ranked Hinds program.

All-time, Northwest owns a 29-18-3 series advantage against the Eagles. The last regular season meeting featuring the two teams came on August 31, 2017, but was declared a scoreless no-contest, due to weather issues stemming from the remnants of Hurricane Harvey.

Saturday's championship bout is set for a 2 P.M. kickoff from Bobby Franklin Field. Tickets will be available here beginning Monday afternoon and the game will also be carried on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch) and Facebook Live beginning with a 1:30 P.M. pregame show.