SENATOBIA - For the second consecutive week, Northwest quarterback
Keegan Patterson passed for over 300 yards, but the 10th-ranked Rangers were unable to keep pace with No. 13 East Mississippi in Thursday's 35-17 loss.
Northwest was held scoreless in the fourth quarter for the first time since October 13, 2022, while the Lions managed the game-sealing score with 3:17 left in the game. EMCC moved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the MACCC North Division, while the loss dropped the Rangers to 3-2 on the year and 1-1 in division play.
Defense was the story for both teams early in the contest, as the Rangers and Lions traded punts. After East Mississippi was forced to punt a second time with 8:03 left in the opening quarter, Northwest caught a big break with a 61-yard pass from Patterson to
JaBrysten Abram, pushing the Rangers into the red zone.
Although Northwest was unable to find the end zone,
Jackson Uselton knocked through a field goal from 29 yards out and gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead with 5:19 left.
East Mississippi countered with a trip to the end zone on its next possession. Facing third down from the Rangers' 44-yard line, Lee Wade took the handoff himself for a long Lions' score. Cole Arthur followed with the PAT, pushing EMCC to a 7-3 advantage.
Northwest saw its next possession end quickly with an interception to Shannon Blair, but the Lions were unable to capitalize on the turnover, going four and out deep inside Rangers' territory. As the first quarter gave way to the second, Northwest embarked on an 11-play drive that would end deep in Lions' territory, as the Rangers turned the ball over on fourth down.
After another empty-handed drive by Northwest, East Mississippi gained a little separation on its next possession. In just two plays from scrimmage, the Lions scored on a 69-yard touchdown pass from Ty Keyes to Marcus Harris, sending the lead to a 14-3 margin.
Neither Northwest or EMCC could reach the end zone on their next possessions, but the Rangers' next drive went 11 plays and saw the home team set up shop inside the Lions' five-yard line. Even with the good field position, Northwest still failed to score, as the fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete, giving the ball back to the Lions with 59 seconds left.
However, the Rangers' luck quickly changed on the very next play. After a fumble by Keyes, the ball was recovered in the end zone by
D.J. Burgess for a Northwest touchdown. Uselton followed with the PAT and the Rangers went into the halftime break trailing just 14-10.
Northwest received the ball to open the second half, looking to potentially regain the lead. However, the Rangers came up empty-handed and were forced to punt to the Lions instead, resulting in a four-play, 79-yard scoring drive for EMCC. Keyes connected with Cam Wright for a 24-yard touchdown pass, helping the Lions stretch their lead to 21-10.
Northwest wasn't done yet, though. On its next possession, Patterson hit
Cam Harris on back-to-back completions of 15 and 60 yards, pushing the Rangers into the Lions' red zone.
Cam Young then moved the ball to the three-yard line on a seven-yard carry and
D'mariun Perteet finished out the drive with a three-yard score, bringing the score back within 21-17.
Facing third and short, East Mississippi flipped the field on a 43-yard rush from Kiron Benjamin, moving the Lions to the Northwest 15-yard line. Though the Rangers forced a field goal attempt and blocked the kick, an offsides penalty against the Rangers gave EMCC another shot. Three plays later, Keyes hit Harris on a short scoring pass, pushing the deficit to 28-17 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Four straight unsuccessful possessions would haunt Northwest and East Mississippi put the game away for good with three minutes to go, as Keyes hit Benjamin on a 27-yard touchdown pass. The Rangers tried to close the gap with one final drive and even got the ball inside the Lions' 10-yard line, only for the Rangers to come up shy of the end zone as time expired.
Both teams logged over 400 yards of total offense, with Northwest collecting 410 yards to East Mississippi's 482 total yards. Nearly 350 of the Lions' yards came through the air, while the Rangers also passed for over 300 yards.
Patterson finished 27-for-54 with 319 yards and an interception, while Harris logged seven catches for 111 yards. Abram also hauled in six passes for 93 yards, while Perteet and Young combined for 75 of the Rangers' 91 rushing yards.
Keyes completed 31 of his 46 pass attempts for East Mississippi, finishing with 346 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. His top target, Raymon Blackmon, caught five passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, followed by 86 yards on five catches by Wright.
Defensively,
Dyllon Bullard led the Rangers with 10 total tackles and two tackles-for-loss.
JyKeon Cunningham tallied nine tackles and one interception, while
Keshawn Davila finished with eight tackles and a pair of TFLs.
Kamp Shepherd also collected eight tackles for the Rangers, while
Charles Thomas provided seven.
Tristan Shorter and
Caulen Dunn also accounted for six tackles each, with Shorter also collected two TFLs and a sack.
Tyrane Stewart led the East Mississippi defense with 13 total tackles, followed by nine from Tyrese Hopkins. Marcus Ross and Devin Arrington accounted for seven tackles apiece.
Despite the loss, Northwest still leads the all-time series with East Mississippi, 43-27-1. The Rangers will now look ahead to next Thursday's MACCC North Division contest at Mississippi Delta, one of two final regular season road games for Northwest. The Trojans (1-4, 1-2 MACCC North) are coming off a 29-0 road loss at Itawamba and trail the all-time series to Northwest, 48-23-2.
Kickoff for Thursday's contest in Moorhead is scheduled for 7 P.M., with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 on Ranger TV, Action News 5 Plus and WHCQ-LD 8.
