SENATOBIA – As the #4 Northwest Mississippi Community College football team prepares for their NJCAA tournament semifinal against the #1 Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons, they will be taking nine All-Region 23 players with them along with the All-Region Coach of the Year after the MACCC announced the All-Region list on Wednesday morning.
The Rangers, who won the MACCC Championship game 16-13 over Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the last six are in search of their fifth national title. They have wins over nationally ranked teams in their last two games as well as two teams who are ranked or receiving votes in the final poll of the year.
Head Football Coach Benjy Parker takes home his third Region 23 Coach of the Year award and his second straight after winning it in the 2024 season as well. His first came after the 2021 campaign, and he also added a MACCC Coach of the Year award in 2020 when a Region Coach of the Year award was not given out. The 10-1 season improves the coaching record to an impressive 85-22 since he took over as the head coach of the Rangers in 2016 and he is currently second in program history in wins and is tops in winning percentage.
Of course, a coach is only as good as the players he can bring in and the Rangers saw eight players make it onto the All-Region team, led by the MACCC North Division Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Thomas.
Thomas was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive line as the sophomore nose tackle from Memphis, Tennessee accounted for 18 total tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss. He added a half sack and had a hit on the quarterback.
His best game came in the come-from-behind win over Northeast Mississippi Community College where he had five tackles, but he was a steady rock in every game as a multi-gap nose tackle that allowed for linebackers and blitzers to have open lanes to the back field, helping the defense to the top spot in the nation in terms of rushing yards allowed, only giving up 50.4 yards per game this season while totaling 33 sacks to go with it.
Thomas was one of five defenders who earned All-Region nods and was joined by fellow nose tackle T.J. Spann, linebacker Jerry Wall III, and defensive backs Dre Riley and Jakwon Morris.
Wall had some of the most impressive tackling numbers on the team this season, finishing just three shy of Rase Jones for the team lead with 51, including 26 solo tackles and had 4.5 sacks on his way to six tackles for loss. He was a three-position player for the Rangers, spending time as an extra blitzer on the line, and playing as an extra defensive back. He had three pass breakups on the year and also had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Morris was also a team leader in solo tackles with 25 on the season which was fourth on the roster. He was known as a lockdown corner for the Rangers and had seven pass breakups as a result and picked up a fumble recovery too. Morris was aggressive and he used that to total 2.5 tackles for a loss when he would come up to help defend the run.
Riley wasn't far behind Morris in the solo tackles category. The hard-hitting safety for the Rangers finished with 38 tackles on the year with 23 of the as solo tackles and was key in making sure that the second level was where running backs were stopped when they broke through, making several touchdown saving tackles during the Rangers postseason run to a MACCC championship. He also picked up three tackles for a loss and had a fumble recovery on the year.
Closing out the first team on defense was Spann, who much like Thomas was a two-gap nose tackle for the Rangers, finishing the year with 25 tackles and seven solo's he registered one sack on the season on the way to 1.5 TFL's, and added a rare pass breakup for a defensive lineman.
Northwest also fared very well on the offensive side of the ball, getting three All-Region awards, starting with offensive lineman Reginhard Pierre-Nau along with tight end Reed Jesiolowski and wide receiver Keon Hutchins.
Hutchins was an eye turner for the Rangers as a receiver this season, having his breakout performance against Southwest Mississippi where he had 219 yards and three touchdowns in the first half on five receptions. The sophomore from Union had six games where he totaled more than 50 yards, including the MACCC championship and finished the year with 635 yards and six touchdowns on 34 receptions.
Jesiolowski was also big for Northwest this season, seeing his opportunities really grow as the year went on. He finished the season with 348 yards and four touchdowns and was a fourth weapon in the passing game to take pressure off of the receivers as a mismatch in the middle of the field. His biggest game came in a win or go home showing against Itawamba Community College where he had 79 yards and the opening touchdown for Northwest to help them earn a spot in the postseason.
The Rangers final first team award went to the special teams where Hayden Wolfe took home the honor. The sophomore kicker and punter was a reliable option for them all season long, finishing the year going 12-17 in kicks with a long of 51 yards on his only attempt from 50-plus all season long. He was 8-10 from kicks inside of 39 yards and went 4-7 on kicks from beyond 40.
Kicking and punting were also strong suites for the Ranger from Clinton, who finished with 42 punts, placing 20 of them inside of the 20-yard line and only having five touchbacks. He averaged 38.74 yards per punt and had a long of 61 yards and two that were above 50 yards on the season. Kickoffs were also a strong suite, where none of them were returned for touchdowns and ten of them were touchbacks, averaging 60.8 yards per kickoff.
You can find full stats for the Rangers and more on their season, as well as keep up with the Northwest postseason schedule as they prepare for action against #1 Hutchinson in the NJCAA Division I Playoff by visiting nwccrangers.com. You can also follow along on Ranger social media accounts.
