MOORHEAD - Thursday evening's division battle at Mississippi Delta came down to a tale of two halves, but it was eighth-ranked Northwest that left with the 31-3 victory.

Northwest stumbled out of the gates in the first half and could not find a rhythm on offense. Meanwhile, the Trojans also struggled on the offensive side of the ball, but had two possessions result in scoring opportunities. By halftime however, neither team had reached the end zone, as the two squads left the field in a stunning 3-3 deadlock.

By the time the second half started, the Rangers got things going, reaching the end zone on their first possession of the third quarter. That would lay the groundwork for three additional touchdowns, as the Northwest defense also clamped down on the Trojans and kept the home team off the scoreboard for the rest of the evening.

Mississippi Delta won the toss and elected to receive the ball first, but the Trojans were stopped near midfield on a third down incompletion. The ensuing punt led to Northwest starting at its own 25-yard line, only for two incompletions to result in a punt from the Rangers as well.

Both teams traded empty possessions for the next several minutes, but Mississippi Delta began to find momentum late in the first quarter. A third down incompletion was marred by a roughing the passer penalty against Northwest, allowing the Trojans to move the ball across midfield. 

As the second quarter began, Mississippi Delta moved into the Rangers' red zone, but an incompletion, a failed rush and a sack from D.J. Burgess and Tyeland Coleman forced the Trojans to settle for a 40-yard field goal. However, Ceidrick Hunt's kick went left and short away from the goalposts, denying points for the home team.

From there, Northwest began a 10-play, 73-yard drive that burned five minutes off the clock. An 11-yard rush from D'mariun Perteet and a 21-yard completion from Zach Wilcke to JaBrysten Abram helped the Rangers march into Trojans' territory, before a couple carries from Ja Keyes put Northwest in field goal range. Jackson Uselton capped off the drive with a 21-yard field goal, giving the Rangers a 3-0 lead.

Mississippi Delta had no intentions of going into halftime with no points on the board, and the Trojans responded with a 17-play possession that chewed up the remaining 8:14 of the second quarter. Facing third and long, Troy Griffin kept the drive alive with a 31-yard completion to Jermon Baymon at midfield. MDCC would continue to advance little by little, eventually reaching the red zone on a 16-yard pass to Daniel Hall.

With time ticking away in the quarter, the Trojans would get no further than the Rangers' 10-yard line, thanks to a big stop from Burgess and Jaylon Johnson. On third down with one second left, Hunt's 27-yard field goal attempt went through the uprights, sending Mississippi Delta into the locker room on a high note and a 3-3 tie.

Northwest was held to under 100 yards of total offense in the first half, but the Rangers quickly changed that on the opening possession of the second half. In just eight plays, Wilcke marched his team 60 yards downfield, capping off a short drive with a three-yard touchdown from Perteet. Uselton followed with the point-after kick, as Northwest regained a 10-3 advantage.

Although a penalty on the ensuing kickoff allowed Mississippi Delta to start near midfield, a sack from Johnson and Jacorey Jones helped force a punt from the Trojans. Once again, the Rangers needed only eight plays and a handful of huge gains from Keyes, as Perteet capped off the possession with a short rushing score, further extending the Northwest lead to 17-3 with 5:47 left in the third quarter.

Just a few plays later, the Rangers got the ball back as Dre Riley picked off Griffin's pass near midfield. From there, Wilcke opened up the passing game a bit with back-to-back completions to K.D. Gibson and M.J. Johnson. On first and goal, Wilcke connected with Gibson on a 15-yard touchdown pass, widening the gap to 24-3.

After Mississippi Delta opened the fourth quarter with a punt, the Rangers' offense went three-and-out for the first time in the second half, as the Trojans got the ball back off Hayden Wolfe's 31-yard punt. Pinned deep in its own territory, MDCC coughed up the football just a few plays later, as Rase Jones forced a fumble that was recovered by Carlando Crump with 10:45 remaining. 

Starting at midfield, the Rangers went 48 yards off several rushes from Qua Middlebrooks, capped off by an 11-yard touchdown from the freshman tailback. The score pushed the Northwest lead to 31-3 with 6:41 left in the contest.

With its halftime momentum long gone, Mississippi Delta tried to close the gap late with Conner Whitson taking over under center. Though the Trojans moved the ball with the new signal-caller, the Rangers' defense locked down near the 30-yard line, stopping MDCC on fourth and short with 2:16 left.

Ultimately, the Trojans did get one last offensive possession with 45 seconds left, but a sack from Jaylen Thomas and an eight-yard run on second down ended the game.

Northwest finished with 303 yards of total offense, with 212 coming on the ground. Mississippi Delta ended the evening with 224 total yards, almost evenly split between the rushing and passing yards.

Thanks to a sizable difference in the first half, the Trojans ended the evening with a possession time of 35:16, compared to just 24 minutes for the Rangers.

Wilcke finished 7-for-10 with 91 yards, with Johnson hauling in two catches for 35 yards. Gibson ended the evening with two receptions for 27 yards and a touchdown, while Abram caught a pair of passes for 22 yards.

Though Perteet was bottled up by the Trojans' defense, the sophomore still accounted for two touchdowns and 31 yards on the ground. Middlebrooks led the Rangers' rushing attack with 90 yards on 11 carries, while Keyes also finished with 84 yards on 10 rushing attempts.

For Mississippi Delta, Griffin finished 14-for-22 through the air, including 103 passing yards. Gerald Hanson served as his primary target, hauling in five catches for 42 yards. 

Trevon Brown and Davion Alston led in the ground game for the Trojans, combining for 79 of the team's 103 yards. Griffin also accounted for 22 rushing yards of his own.

Defensively, Johnson and Caulen Dunn combined for 17 Northwest tackles, with Dunn posting nine of his own with a tackle-for-loss. Jones also finished with seven tackles, including a tackle-for-loss.

Ja'Bryis Stewart led the Mississippi Delta defense with nine tackles, including 1.5 tackles-for-loss. Anthony Johnson also accounted for seven tackles, including a sack and three TFLs. 

Uselton's 21-yard field goal in the first half moved him to 4-for-7 in field goal attempts on the season, while Hayden Wolfe punted five times for 175 yards, including two that landed inside the 20-yard line. For the Trojans, Hunt punted five times for 170 yards with three landing inside the 20-yard line.

Jeremiah Campbell returned five kicks for 75 yards for Mississippi Delta, while Fredd Adams racked up 19 yards on three punt returns.

With the win, Northwest moved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the MACCC North Division, as the Trojans fell to 1-6 on the season and 0-4 in division play. The Rangers also extended their winning streak over Mississippi Delta to 12 games, while capturing their 19th win in the last 20 meetings. In the all-time series, Northwest leads 50-23-2 against MDCC.

Next up for Northwest is a massive Homecoming battle against undefeated and sixth-ranked Holmes on Thursday, October 24. The Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 MACCC North) are coming off a 27-24 thriller against No. 14 Itawamba, which ended on a game-winning field goal with two seconds left.

While the Rangers own a 48-20-2 all-time series lead against Holmes, the Bulldogs and Northwest are currently tied for the lead in the MACCC North Division. The Rangers have also won nine straight Homecoming contests, with the last loss coming in 2013.

Kickoff is slated for 7 P.M. from Bobby Franklin Field. Live broadcast coverage will begin at 6:30 P.M. on the Ranger TV Network. Read Full Article