SENATOBIA - The #10 Northwest Mississippi Community College football team put together one of their best defensive performances of the season on the way to a 45-0 shutout win over Coahoma Community College at Bobby Franklin Field on Thursday night.

The Rangers held the Tigers to 126 total yards, limiting the visitors to -9 yards rushing, the third time this season the NWCC defense held their opponent to negative yards on the ground. On the other side of the ball, the Rangers dominated in almost every category, leading the game with 264 rushing yards and 172 yards through the air, averaging 6.9 yards per play for 436 total yards.

"We played better and had a better week of prep," Head Coach Benjy Parker said. "We were able to run the ball and were able to get off the field on third down, so that helped."

Northwest opened the game with a nearly perfect drive orchestrated by Neko Fann who was 4-4 on the way to a 28-yard strike to Julius Pope to go up 7-0 after the 2:18 drive. 

A three and out from Coahoma led to another long drive from the Rangers which ran out of steam in the red zone, leading to a missed 33-yard field goal from Hayden Wolfe as the score stayed frozen at 7-0 for the rest of the quarter. 

That story changed in the second quarter when NWCC put the scoreboard operator to work. 

An eight-play 79-yard drive was finished off when Jarvis Durr carried the ball three times for 21 yards and capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run to double the lead and put the home side up 14-0. On the next offensive snap for Coahoma, Dre Riley picked up a fumble forced by Elliot Helps and carried it 33 yards for a scoop-and-score and the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Rangers to make it 21-0 in the blink of an eye. 

The Tigers' luck didn't improve on their next drive when their punter bobbled a snap and was tackled for a loss on fourth down, setting up a two-play drive where Ja Keyes rushed both times for 12 yards and his first touchdown of the game to make it 28-0 with just under eight minutes left in the first half. 

Northwest had one final drive of the first half and made it the last. In their longest drive of the season by play count, NWCC drove 19 plays covering 60-yards, eating up six minutes of clock, ending in a 35-yard Wolfe field goal to close out the first half scoring with the Rangers in command 31-0. 

The defense stood tall again in the second half as the Tigers' opening drive showed promise after the kickoff return had them starting at their own 49-yard line. Five plays later they were punting the ball back to the Rangers who wasted no time taking the ball 84 yards for their fifth touchdown of the game courtesy of Keyes, whose second score of the game came on a 10-yard carry to the end zone, starting the running clock with the score at 38-0. 

One more score would follow for the Rangers in the fourth when newcomer Jaden Copening carried the ball eight times on a ten-play drive, capping it off with an eleven-yard run to pay dirt to push the lead to 45-0. 

While the team numbers were flashy, the balance from the Rangers was even more impressive. Both Fann and Aidan Glover shared time at quarterback with Fann going 9-11 for 99 yards and a touchdown and Glover finishing 7-13 for 73 yards. 

The rushing stats were even more balanced. The team's 39 total attempts were shared by five players and none had more than nine carries. Keyes led the way with nine carries for 69-yards and two touchdowns. Julius Pope carried it eight times for 66 yards and Copening had all eight of his carries on the final drive for 59 yards and a touchdown. Durr added six carries for 37 yards and a touchdown. Glover rounded out the ground game with eight carries for 35 yards. 

Pope also pulled in the only receiving touchdown of the game, finishing with the longest receiving play of the game on his 28-yard catch on the opening drive. Reed Jesiolowski led the team in receptions and yards with four catches for 57 yards. Britten Traylor had four receptions for 42 yards and four other Rangers pulled in at least one pass in the game. 

The balance and depth of offensive contributors was something that made the coaching staff pleased as they were able get deep into their bench which could give major benefits as the season continues.

"Getting them reps was big because that builds depth and that helps the team down the road and anytime you can do that, that's going to help your football team," Parker said. 

The Rangers were as balanced on the defensive side as they were offensively.  The unit was led by Jerry Wall III and Antione Keefer, Jr. who each had five total tackles.  Keefer, Malachi Gilleylen, and Montra Sanford each recorded a sack, and ten Rangers registered tackles for a loss.  Helps forced the only turnover of the game in the second quarter.

Northwest only punted the ball one time in the game and scored on seven of their nine drives on the night. 

The Rangers' shutout was the first since 2017 when they blanked Northeast Mississippi Community College 32-0 on October 26th. That 2017 team finished the year with five shutouts including a 35-0 win over Coahoma on October 5th. 

NWCC will be back on the road next week when they travel to NEMCC on Thursday night for another division game against the Tigers. The Rangers defeated Northeast 28-20 last season and currently are riding a ten-game winning streak with the last loss coming in an overtime thriller on September 11, 2014. 

The game will be streamed on nwccrangers.com/watch. Pregame begins at 6:30 pm with Tyler Springs and Russell Copeland on the call leading up to kickoff at 7:00 PM. You can also follow along on Ranger social media accounts.