GOODMAN – The #6 Northwest Mississippi Community College football team (5-2, 4-0) picked up a hard-fought road win on Thursday night against Holmes Community College (1-6, 1-2), taking down the Bulldogs 41-26 as they improved their winning streak to four consecutive games, keeping them tied for the MACCC North Division lead.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Gillon said the team is feeling more like themselves after the run of victories, and it has been a big boost to the overall energy they are bringing each game.
This winning train we have been on right now has helped the team's morale a lot," he said. "It's good to have coaches that support us, and we have a great brotherhood in the locker room, so it helps a lot."
The game started out on the right foot for the Rangers, with the defense getting off the field after Holmes went for it on fourth-and-three from the Northwest 47, giving the offense the chance to take control early.
A 53-yard drive followed the turnover on downs, and it was capped by a Gillon rushing touchdown, as the redshirt-freshman took the ball over the goal line from two yards out for the first score of the game, making it 7-0 after the Will Uselton point-after.
Gillon's rushing score was one of two he would pick up in the game, and his second straight game with as many, and he would credit his blockers and running backs for clearing the way.
"I trust those guys with my life," the Tupelo native said. "There was no doubt whether I was getting in or not. It takes a lot of dogs up front to get it done."
The Bulldogs quickly got the answer they needed on the ensuing kickoff, returning the kick 94 yards on a run down the home sideline by Jamarius Grayer to close the gap to 7-6, but a missed PAT would keep Northwest in front.
Northwest couldn't get the offense moving on their next possession, leading to a punt, and the Bulldogs used shock plays and a long drive to march down the field, going 70 yards on a nine-play drive, capped by a 39-yard passing touchdown from Tristan Colenberg to Jer'Kel Ivy for their first lead of the game, going ahead 13-7 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.
In need of an answer, the Rangers went to the air themselves after getting a strong return from Damon Sisa that set them up near midfield. Gillon found Quincy Phillips Jr. on a deep route on first down, leading him to the Holmes 20 to set up a 40-yard field goal attempt from Uselton, which closed the gap back to just three at 13-10, and the margin would stay there for most of the second quarter.
Holmes would be the next to strike, once again putting themselves in field goal range, and after missing on an attempt at the start of the second quarter, Cohen Clark would hit on a 32-yard attempt to extend the lead to 16-10 with a little less than four minutes left.
Northwest had a quick answer in their pocket, going to the air again when Gillon found Dagarrious Clifton on a 32-yard completion that flipped the field and put the Rangers in scoring distance. Five rushing plays later, Gillon would scamper into the endzone for a 17-16 lead that they would take into the half.
Both sides would see three-and-outs greet them in the second half, giving the Rangers offense the chance to strike first, and a deep pass down the middle on a first-and-ten found TyAnthony Elmore for 51 yards and a score to shock the home crowd and give Northwest some breathing room, up 24-16 after just three-and-a-half minutes of play in the third quarter.
"We were extremely resilient," Gillon said. "The guys on this team make this team who they are as people. Strategically, coach saw what they were doing; they did some weird stuff all night, and we got in on it and started seeing it better and executing a lot more."
That was when the defense began to really take control of the game, once again holding the Bulldogs to a three-and-out on their next possession, and Kemauri Salley would earn a punt block that set up the Ranger offense in the red zone.
The drive would stall after Northwest went for it on fourth down, but again, a defensive play would keep Holmes from taking advantage. After a fumble was forced, Charles Sullins would jump on top of the loose ball and rumble 16 yards to paydirt for his first career touchdown.
"My teammate punched the ball, and I just dropped my head and knew I had to get in the endzone," Sullins said. "It hyped up the team because you rarely see a defensive lineman pick up a fumble and score, so it just amped us up."
Up 31-16, the Rangers defense was called on again in the next drive by Holmes to stand tall, and for the second time in the game, they would come up big on a fourth-down attempt from the Bulldogs, this time ending a 47-yard drive on the Northwest 26 by forcing an incompletion from Colenberg.
It was a sign of pressure that had been there all night as the Ranger defensive line worked in tandem with a defensive backfield that kept the Bulldog quarterback from being comfortable all game, sacking him 10 times by game's end and picking up four hurries on top of that.
Clytravus Lewis had two-and-a-half of those while leading the team in tackles with nine, and he said it was something the coaching staff had prepared them for all week in practice.
"Our coaches see a lot of little things we could have fixed, but overall, we do our best to translate what we worked on in practice into tonight's game," he said. "We knew we were going to have a quarterback that could move around and do some things with his feet, so we worked on that a lot so we could help [the defensive line] on the back end."
Unfortunately, an offensive miscue on a botched snap would give the ball back to Holmes inside of the ten, and two plays later, Colenberg picked up his second passing touchdown of the game, finding Ivy for a second time to close it back to a one-score game at 31-23.
Timely offense picked back up for the Rangers on the next drive, and a good mix of passing and rushing would balance out, with Phillips pulling in another long reception for 30 yards, and Macaleb Taylor running for a 28-yard gain that put Northwest in scoring position going into the fourth quarter.
No touchdown would result, but Uselton connected on his second kick of the game, this time from 36 yards, to extend the lead to 34-23.
The defense made it stick this time, not only stopping the Bulldogs, but picking up another turnover when Lewis added to his impressive night, pulling in his second interception in as many games when he stepped in front of backup quarterback Erik Gilkey and reeled in the pick near midfield.
"The coach talked us up, and he said he needed it," Lewis said. "He wanted the ball, and it just so happened I was the guy who made the play right there. It's definitely the coaching, because there are days when you wonder how many times we're going to rep this, but you see that it helps. I have two picks in two weeks, and it's the coaching."
It was the third turnover forced in the game, the most all season by the Rangers, and Defensive Coordinator Paige Anders said it is the type of playmaking he and the rest of the coaches have been looking for all season.
"We have fallen short in the turnover category this year," he said. "In my mind right now, we don't have enough turnovers, and that is what we stress. We stress pursuing the football with passion, and we ran to the ball for the biggest part, but it has to be 100 percent of the time, and tackle violently."
A punt would follow on the next drive, and Uselton would pin the Bulldogs inside of their own five, but that didn't keep Holmes from going on a drive that marched 80 yards on 16 plays and finished with a field goal from 34 yards to keep some hope alive for the Bulldogs, down just 34-26.
With just five minutes left, Northwest was on the verge of closing out the game, and several rushing plays, and on third-and-13, the Rangers would put the finishing touches on the win when Gillon connected with Clydarrien Peters for a 33-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 41-26 and sealing the win.
Both the offense and the defense had some of their stronger numbers of the season in the win, with the offense picking up their third 40-point game of the year, netting 352 yards of total offense on just 67 plays.
Gillon completed 16-32 passes for 291 yards, with two touchdowns, adding in another two on the ground with 305 yards of total offense.
His top target was Elmore with four receptions for 81 yards and a 51-yard touchdown. He was followed by Phillips, who pulled in three for 75 yards. Clifton joined Sisa and DJ Woods with two receptions each, and Peters wrapped up the big targets with one catch for 33 yards and a score.
On the ground, Northwest was paced by Taylor, whose long of 28 helped him to earn 43 total yards on nine carries. Woods led the way with carries, taking it 11 times for 18 yards.
Special teams had a big night from Uselton, who finished two-for-two kicking field goals, with a long of 40 while also making all five of his point-after attempts. He also averaged 46.6 yards punting with five attempts, and put a pair of them inside the 20.
On the defensive side, Northwest had their best game in terms of tackles for a loss, teaming up for 17 as a team, with ten of them going as sacks. Both Lewis and Jack Ridgway led the team in tackles with nine, followed closely by Linkin Sanders, who added eight while also forcing a fumble that turned into a touchdown on the recovery. Malachi Gilleyen finished with seven tackles, and Cameron Williams led the defensive line with six total tackles, five of which were solo, including three sacks to lead the team, while also forcing a fumble.
"We have to continue running to the football and finish off plays, whether it's getting the fumble, making the sack," Anders said. "We are starting to get the right guys in the right situations. We are starting to come together as a defense."
The Rangers will look to take this success into a major game with playoff implications against #8 Itawamba Community College (6-1, 3-0) on October 15, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. from Bobby Franklin Field. The Indians are coming off a strong showing against Jones College on Thursday, taking down the Bobcats 24-21 on homecoming.
"It sounds like they have a really good offensive line and a couple of really good running backs, so it's going to come back to us running to the football," Anders said. "We are going to have to stop the run, which is the main emphasis that we have, and eliminate the deep balls to get the ball back in our offense's hands."
It's a game the whole team understands the importance of, but just like they have been saying all season, it is a week-by-week process to grow.
"We just take it one week at a time," Sullins said. "When we go to practice Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we just take it one week at a time. We have been getting better every week, stacking every week and just thinking about getting better and better."
You can follow along with Thursday's game by checking out Ranger TV, where you can both stream live video and audio of the game. Pregame will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Tyler Springs and Russell Copeland on the call.
Keep up with the Northwest football team and all Ranger athletics programs by visiting nwccrangers.com, or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
