SENATOBIA - Northwest quarterback Zach Wilcke completed a career-high 23 passes on 24 attempts, while also passing for a career-best 213 yards, as the 10th-ranked Rangers picked up a 28-20 win against Northeast on Thursday evening.

Wilcke, a Hernando native and Southern Miss transfer, completed 95.8 of his passes, the best completion percentage of any Northwest starting quarterback since the hiring of offensive coordinator Stan Hill in 2016. His longest pass of the evening was a 44-yard touchdown strike to M.J. Johnson, who led all Ranger receivers with 69 yards on three catches.

With the win, the Rangers improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 against MACCC North Division competition. Northeast dropped to 1-3 on the season and 0-2 in division play.

Northeast opened the game on offense and pushed downfield to the Northwest 20-yard line, thanks to an 11-play possession led by Jeremiah Harrell. The Tigers came up empty-handed though, choosing to attempt a fourth down conversion, only to throw an incompletion after burning nearly six minutes off the clock.

Northwest followed with a long possession of its own, as Wilcke completed each of his first four passes. A four-yard rush from D'mariun Perteet helped the Rangers cross the red zone and Rashard Daniels capped off the drive with a seven-yard score, giving Northwest the 7-0 lead with 4:02 left in the first quarter.

After the Tigers were left empty-handed again on their next possession, the Rangers quickly added another score late in the first, as Wilcke connected with Johnson on the 44-yard touchdown strike, pushing the Northwest lead to 14-0.

Northeast got the ball back in the closing seconds of the first quarter and carried over its next offensive opportunity into the second quarter, where the Tigers once again nearly entered the Rangers' red zone. However, back-to-back incompletions from Caden Greer left Northeast to settle for a 39-yard field goal from Freddy Lopez, putting the Tigers on the board, down 14-3.

As Northwest was unable to get anything out of its next drive, Northeast ate up the second quarter clock with an 18-play possession that lasted just over nine minutes. The end result was another field goal from Lopez, this time from 41 yards out, closing the gap to 14-6 with 1:10 left in the first half.

Though the Rangers had a chance to pull within field goal range over the final minute of the second quarter, Northwest could only reach the Tigers' 41-yard line before time expired. The opening possession of the second half proved to be unproductive for the Rangers, setting up a punt from Hayden Wolfe that allowed Northeast to start on its own 26-yard line.

After an eight-play drive that lasted nearly five minutes, the Tigers punted away after failing to score. Two plays later, Perteet broke free and turned on the speed for an 89-yard touchdown blast, pushing Northwest to a 21-6 advantage with 7:19 remaining in the third quarter.

Northeast once again crossed midfield on its next possession, but the Tigers were halted at the Rangers' 43-yard line, forced to punt. With 3:01 left in the third, Wilcke and the Rangers went to work on a drive that continued into the fourth quarter. Facing fourth and long from the Northeast 28-yard line, Wolfe missed a 45-yard field goal, giving Northeast another chance to close the gap.

Seven plays later, the Tigers finally reached the end zone on a six-yard touchdown pass from Greer to J.T. Beasley. However, the ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed, keeping Northwest ahead 21-12 with 9:02 left in regulation.

From there, the Rangers worked the clock, embarking on a 13-play, 64-yard drive that lasted over seven minutes. Perteet would carry the ball 10 times on the possession, scoring from one yard out on fourth and goal, moving the lead to 28-12 with 1:50 remaining.

Despite what seemed like the game-sealing score, Northeast did everything but give up. Facing a fourth down with less than a minute left, Greer connected with Beasley on a 49-yard touchdown pass, while also completing the two-point conversion attempt to Antonio Kennedy. The quick score closed the gap to 28-20 and set up an onside kick opportunity for the Tigers. However, Northwest successfully recovered the onside kick from Lopez, putting the Rangers into victory formation.

Northwest finished with 392 yards of total offense, while Northeast accounted for 358. Both teams saw a majority of their total yards come in the passing game, with the Tigers earning the slight 217-213 edge through the air. 

Northeast also converted seven of its 16 third downs and finished 3-for-4 in fourth down conversions. The Rangers finished 3-for-9 on third down chances and 2-for-3 in fourth down attempts.

Aside from Wilcke's career performance, Perteet shattered his career-high rushing total from last week, tallying 166 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Nine different receivers caught passes from Wilcke on the evening, including K.D. Gibson's 45 yards on seven receptions and Kyler Hutton's five catches for 52 yards.

For Northeast, both Greer and Harrell passed for 100 yards, with Greer accounting for both Tigers' touchdowns. Independence High School alumnus Keion Mays accounted for 64 yards on 11 carries to lead all Northeast tailbacks, while Beasley and Will Stokes accounted for 60 or more receiving yards.

Defensively, Kamp Shepherd came up big again for Northwest, tallying 10 tackles, a tackle-for-loss, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. Caulen Dunn was also credited with nine tackles, a TFL and a breakup, followed by seven tackles from Jacorey Jones.

Jameson Mosley posted a team-high nine tackles for Northeast, followed by seven tackles from Ryan McCall.

Jackson Uselton finished 4-for-4 in point-after kicks and Hayden Wolfe punted twice for 79 yards, with a 47-yard punt landing inside the 20-yard line. Johnson and JaBrysten Abram also combined for 68 yards on four kickoff returns.

For the Tigers, Martavious Parker punted the ball three times for 87 yards, with two of his attempts landing inside the 20-yard line. Tre'Marcus Webb also returned five kickoffs for 109 yards.

Northwest improved to 45-18-2 all-time against Northeast, winning its 10th straight contest against the Tigers. The Rangers will join a majority of the MACCC in a conference-wide bye week on October 3, before resuming competition at Southwest Misssissippi on Thursday, October 10. The Bears (0-5) are coming off a 42-16 loss at Copiah-Lincoln.

Kickoff in Summit is scheduled for 6:30 P.M., with pregame coverage beginning at 6 P.M. on the Ranger TV Network. Read Full Article