SENATOBIA – It was a happy homecoming night for the #5 Northwest Mississippi Community College football team (6-1, 3-1) as they rolled to a win over Mississippi Delta Community College (0-7, 0-4), starting the running clock in the third quarter on their way to a 51-0 shutout over the Trojans at Bobby Franklin Field on Thursday night.

"It's always fun to get a shutout," Head Coach Benjy Parker said. "You get a shutout it gives you a little momentum and I'm proud of them. They've played pretty consistent all year."

The game started out a little shaky for the Rangers who saw an interception stall their opening drive at the 43-yard line on the Trojans side of the 50. It didn't hurt the Northwest cause for long, as the defense stepped in two plays later and Jerry Wall III picked up a fumble forced by Mitchell Davis and returned it 21 yards for the opening score of the game.

"It felt great," Wall said of the quickness they shut down the MDCC momentum. "We are a team. If the offense makes a mistake, the defense has to go have their back. I'm just grateful to God to have a scoop-and-score."

Mississippi Delta went three-and-out on their next drive and their punt was returned for 45 yards to the 12-yard line and after a pair of Jarvis Durr rushes, a Neko Fann pass to M.J. Johnson doubled the Rangers lead on a six-yard completion for a touchdown.

The pass came on a timing rout to the corner and Fann said it shows the work after practice with his receivers has been paying off.

"The last three or four weeks we've been staying after practice and putting up 100 balls a day, just getting better every day and getting more consistent," he said.

That set up the story line for the night of three-and-outs by the Trojans and scoring drives by the Rangers, who added three more points to their lead on their next possession, taking the ball 47 yards on 12 plays, capped by a Hayden Wolfe field goal from 25 yards out to make it 17-0 going into the second quarter.

Both sides traded punts to open the second quarter but the second drive of the frame by the Trojans resulted in negative three yards and set the Rangers up at the 43-yard line of Mississippi Delta with 11:18 to go.

The Rangers were again held out of the end zone and had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Wolfe to increase the lead to 20-0, scoring on three of their first four offensive drives. 

That was when things got weird.

Wolfe's ensuing kickoff checked up at the two-yard line but none of the Trojans picked up the ball and what was listed as an onside kick set up the Rangers just outside of the goal line. Two plays later, Fann pushed his way across on a quarterback sneak to extend the NWCC lead to 27-0.

Mississippi Delta's next drive didn't go any better. On second and ten, Mitchell Davis threw his only pick of the game and Jamarcus Flowers returned the ball to the Trojans 35-yard line. Northwest was held out of the end zone after getting the ball inside of the ten, but once again settled for a Wolfe chip shot field goal to push the lead to 30-0 with 3:23 to go.

There would be one more chance for the offense to score for Northwest when they took over with 58 seconds left in the half. Fann worked a six-play drive that covered 90 yards in 55 seconds and was finished with a 34-yard completion to Lantavious Murphy for his first touchdown of his collegiate career and the fourth touchdown of the half, putting the Rangers on the precipice of starting the running clock up 37-0 in front of a crowd of just under 2,000.

It didn't take long into the second half for that to happen. After forcing another three-and-out, the Rangers took the ball from their own seven-yard line and drove 93-yards in just six plays, capped by a Julius Pope rushing touchdown from 27 yards out with 9:30 to go to extend the lead to 44-0 and start the countdown to win number six on the season.

From there both Aiden Glover and Wyatt Bond took over and Fann said watching his brothers in the quarterback room get to share opportunities and go to work is something that makes them all better.

"It feels good because I've been preaching to Wyatt that your time is coming, just wait and be patient. You've been looking good in practice; coach is going to put you in the game. And obviously I've told Aiden to keep doing his thing in practice as we keep competing for a spot."

One more score would put the ribbon on a stellar homecoming when Jaden Copening carried the ball seven straight times on the final Ranger drive of the game, covering 53 yards and scoring his second touchdown of the season to push the Northwest offense past the 50-point threshold for the first time since their 55-7 win over Coahoma Community College in 2023, extending the lead to 51-0.

"We are finally coming together and just playing as a team, getting explosive plays off the start and we just keep on building," said Fann.

It marks the first time Northwest has scored 50 points on MDCC since 2000 when they defeated the Trojans 54-17 and marks the largest winning margin in program history against them. It is also the eighth time the Rangers have blanked Mississippi Delta in a game and the first time since 2017 they have had multiple shutouts in a season, including a 41-0 shutout of the Trojans that year, also on homecoming.

Wall said the team is looking to keep the standard that Northwest teams of the past have set and hold that bar high.

"Defense is something we have to stand on," the sophomore from Olive Branch said. "You have to have a good defense to make it far in this league and we take pride in that. It's a standard and we hold the standard. Not just as a defense, but as a whole team."

The balance the Rangers showed on offense came through in the stats where no Ranger had more than Pope's 85 rushing yards. Copening added 53, Jarvis Durr finished with 39 and as a team they combined for 253 on the ground between six different ball carriers.

Fann led the passing effort going 9-15 for 104 yards and two scores, shaking off the early interception on the opening drive.

Six receivers caught a pass in the game with 43 yards on two catches and a touchdown. Reed Jesiolowski pulled in a pair for 23 yards and Quincy Phillips Jr. led the team with three receptions for 22 yards.

Wolfe was an impressive three-for-three in field goals and totaled 594 yards on kickoffs including three touchbacks to open the game. He only punted twice in the game, averaging 40.5 yards on the pair.

Defensively, no one stood out for the Rangers in a team effort, with Johnathan Faulkner leading the team with five assisted tackles. Flowers had the lone interception with a 24-yard return and Wall III's fumble recovery was the third defensive touchdown of the season for Northwest.

Three Rangers had a sack with Nate Walker and Charles Woodard joining Miller in the backfield in taking down the quarterback. Northwest had seven tackles for loss totaling 42 yards in the game.

Up next, the Rangers hit the road for an afternoon affair with the Holmes Community College Bulldogs who enter the game on the heels of their first loss of the year to Itawamba Community College, falling to the Indians 44 to 28 for their first conference defeat of the year.

Walls said they can't let up going into the game with the Bulldogs knowing how important every match up is going into the home stretch of the year.

"We have to playing hard, keep pursuing to the football, keep playing with passion," Walls said. "We play some tough teams, two more big conference games we have to win so we have to come out and show out."

"We play a pretty good offense next week, so we'll need our best effort for sure," Parker added. "I wish I could tell you right now we are in the playoff, but we need to win. Maybe that will work to our advantage. Holmes is going to be tough."

Kickoff of the game is scheduled for 3:00 pm from Goodman. The game will be streamed on RangerTV with the pregame scheduled for 2:30 pm with Tyler Springs and Russell Copeland on the call.

More information on the Northwest football team can be found at nwccrangers.com or by following Ranger social media accounts.