SENATOBIA – It was a quick start and a noisy finish for #6 Northwest Mississippi Community College as the Ranger football team (6-2, 4-0) took down #8 Itawamba Community College (6-2, 3-1) 35-9 on Thursday night at Bobby Franklin Field, putting themselves in the top spot in the MACCC North with just two games remaining in the season.
"We challenged the guys this week," Defensive coordinator Paige Anders said. "We told them this is going to be the best offensive line that they have seen all year. This is the best group of backs as far as the whole group, that they have seen all year, and they took it as a challenge and took it personally. They came out firing from the get-go, and we delivered some knockout blows."
As has been the case in each of the last four weeks, the Ranger defense was able to jump out early on the opposition, this time coming on a strip of the Indians' quarterback, turning into field position just outside the 10-yard line.
One play later, DJ Woods would take it 12 yards to the left pylon for the score and a quick 7-0 Ranger edge.
The defense continued to push back, holding Itawamba to another three-and-out, and the Rangers went to work, starting their own 11 before moving efficiently into the middle of the field. A fourth-and-three would face the Northwest offense, and a completed pass would come up a yard short, and Itawamba would have their chance to tie.
After getting one first down, the Indians stalled out at midfield and were forced into a punting situation, and caught the Rangers sleeping with a fake punt turning into a fresh set of downs.
The drive began to pick up steam from there and eventually bulldozed its way into the end zone for a one-yard run. The extra point would be blocked by Cameron Mackey to keep the Rangers in front with a 7-6 lead.
Northwest had a long field to work on after a slight muff on the kickoff return pinned them at their own 23. That didn't deter the Rangers' offense, who proceeded to march 77 yards on 11 plays, with seven passes completed by Gillon, finishing off with a 17-yard pass and catch to Clydarrien Peters for the score and a 14-6 lead.
Itawamba chewed up 23 yards on their response but eventually punted the ball away to Northwest again.
A big play would get the drive really cruising when Gillon found TyAnthony Elmore on a sideline shot that covered 46 yards and put the Rangers in the red zone. After a pair of unsuccessful runs, Gillon would split the ball out to the right side and Ethan Johnson pulled in his first touchdown of his career and the Rangers went ahead 21-6. Northwest would take that lead into the second half.
The Rangers received the opening kick of the second half and immediately went to work, grinding out a 70-yard drive that ended with a third passing touchdown for Gillon, this time finding TyAnthony Elmore on a 13-yard out to make it a 28-6 lead.
Two plays later, the defense again made their presence known when Jovarius Lundy scoped out an interception and raced 43 yards to extend the lead to 35-6.
"Coach has been preaching to us to get turnovers and get the ball back to the offense, and this week he was really telling us we needed to step up," Lundy said as a part of the defense that forced three turnovers.
It went from bad to worse for the Indians when they saw their next drive cut short after a fumble on the Ranger sideline was picked up by Kemauri Salley for the third turnover of the game by the Indians.
While that didn't result in any points for the Rangers, Northwest still used it to chew clock, and the rest of the third quarter would melt away with it still 35-6 in favor of Northwest.
The Rangers would keep the clock churning in the fourth quarter, getting it down under 10 minutes to go and putting in their reserves, leaving it to a field goal attempt that would miss to the left.
Itawamba did make a late charge on the scoreboard, moving inside of the five, but a penalty on the one would move them back, and they would have to settle for just a chip-shot field goal from 28. Yards to make it a 35-9 score with just 3:53 remaining.
It was all a matter of mathematics for the final push, and the Rangers' bench again would take the stage to close the game out with a few first downs on the way to their sixth win of the year and putting themselves in the driver's seat for the division title.
The Northwest passing attack led the way with Gillon throwing for 257 yards, completing 22-of-30 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
His favorite target was Elmore, who eclipsed 100 yards receiving for a third time this year, pulling in seven catches for 11 yards and a touchdown. Zavion Carman had three receptions for 33 yards, and five other receivers had at least two catches as Gillon spread the ball around to nine different targets in total.
Spreading the ball around has been key to this offense and Phillips said they are putting in extra work to get everyone on the same page.
"I think it is really big to spread the ball around," the sophomore wideout said. "We've been working on that a lot in practice, and we have even stayed out there with Noah to help him gain his confidence in all of us. Seeing his hard work paying off means a lot now and down the road."
Woods made the most of his rushing opportunities, carrying the ball six times for 42 yards and the game's opening touchdown. Macaleb Taylor took the brunt of the carries, rushing 12 times for 36 yards. Jeremiah Harkins added 12 yards on four carries.
Uselton was perfect again on PATs, going 5-for-5 on the day, although he missed the lone field goal attempt of the contest he took. He averaged 40 yards on a pair of punts, and his kickoffs averaged 51.3 yards on six through the game.
Defensively, Linkin Sanders led the Rangers with eight tackles, including four solo. Clytravus Lewis added seven, and Malachi Gilleylen picked up a sack on the way to six total tackles.
The Rangers had four sacks in all and eight tackles for loss, along with the pick-six by Lundy and two fumble recoveries, showing the rewards for the pressure they were able to bring all game long.
Northwest stays at home this week when they play host to Southwest Mississippi Community College for their final non-division clash of the year. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from Bobby Franklin Field, and the game can be streamed on Ranger TV, with the pregame show beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Regardless of the opponent, Phillips said the mantra is the same each and every week.
"We just need to keep the main thing, the main thing," Phillips said. "Go one and oh, every week, keeping our heads down, and not getting complacent. A lot of teams could get complacent when they are on this run, but I feel like we don't do that. We put the work in every single day, and the sky is the limit."
Anders said it has been a full buy-in for the team, and not just for each practice or game, but down to every detail, taking every rep seriously whether it is on the field or off the field.
"Right now, the very next rep is to enjoy this one, and the next rep after that is getting back here at 10 am tomorrow, and let's learn from the mistakes that we did make and put the work in to fix those mistakes," he said. "That's what they have done all year; as this defense has gone from game to game, they've grown up and are taking it personally."
Follow along with Ranger football by visiting nwccrangers.com or by checking out Northwest social media accounts.
