SENATOBIA – After picking up their second straight MACCC Championship, and fourth in five years, the Northwest Mississippi Community College football team is entering the 2026 season with high expectations once again as one of the preeminent programs in Mississippi junior college football.
The Rangers won't be the same team they were last season after losing 21 of 22 starters from the 10-2 campaign in 2025 and only bringing back 22 players from the previous roster total after signing an incredible 33 players to four-year schools.
"We are very inexperienced with only one returning starter on either side of the ball," Head Coach Benjy Parker, who enters his 11th year as the head coach, said. "We have some talented younger guys but no experience."
That includes the three-headed beast at running back that was led by Julius Pope, who is now suiting up for Wisconsin, and helped by Jarvis Durr and Ja Keyes. The trio ran for almost 1,500 yards as a group and finished with 16 of the 21 rushing touchdowns the Rangers scored.
Reloading is always a key in the junior college ranks, and the Rangers have done a lot of work to restock the cupboard, bringing in transfer running back Damon Sisa, who is coming from Arkansas State and was originally recruited by Florida State and Middle Tennessee State. Sisa is joined by returning Ranger Jayden Copening, who had 123 yards rushing for NWCC as a freshman, and by MaCaleb Taylor, who returns to the Rangers after a year with Ole Miss as a freshman.
There is an exciting freshman in the running back room as well, with Jermany Hayden out of Flowood joining the team after carrying the ball for over 1400 yards with Northwest Rankin High School.
Northwest does have one returning starter in Neko Fann, who is back behind the line of scrimmage as the expected signal caller for Northwest after throwing for 2,228 yards and 20 touchdowns with only four interceptions.
There is some more talent in the quarterback room to join Fann, including Appalachian State University transfer Noah Gillon, who appeared in four games for the Mountaineers, including their bowl game.
In terms of targets, the big returning face for Northwest is Quincy Phillips Jr., who was in more of a special teams role last year, but is expected to build on his 13 receptions and two touchdowns this season. Zarion Carman and TyAnthony Elmore are also back for the Rangers after sitting in the wings during their freshman campaigns.
The offensive line took a big hit after the success they had last season, with six players moving on to play at four-year schools, and two of them going to Power 4 programs. Coming back, though, are some strong names with playing time.
Jack Fugette, Hunter Holland, Dontrellus Miller, Ryan White Jr., and Michael Pride Jr. will all be key, along with a strong class of freshmen coming in, with two-time Mississippi state champion Aiden Brooks coming from West Point, Jeremiah Winter, who was a state champion at Kosciusko, and Adonnis Cannon, who was a state runner-up from Clarksdale and Lee Academy.
"They are playing hard, learning what to do, and if they continue to hang in there and keep a good attitude, they will eventually be really good football players," Parker said about all of the freshmen. "They are just young right now."
Flipping to the defensive side of the ball, Northwest is also looking at a completely fresh start after all eleven starters left for new programs.
While there aren't any starters returning, the Rangers do have a large contingent of players who did see good amounts of live action time on the field. BJ Mix, C.J. Williams, Caleb Tillman, Chase Meeking, Jovarius Lundy, and Jamarcus Flowers all saw double-digit appearances on the field.
Many of those are expected to be the starting defensive backs, and that should be a position of strength for Northwest, while the bigger cut the Rangers will have to close is on the defensive line, where they only see two returners from a team that was top five in the nation in rushing yards allowed.
The Rangers really did a lot of work in rebuilding their linebacking corps going into the new year as well, losing some particularly talented players in Chris Thomas, Elliot Helps, Jerry Wall III, Nate Walker, and Antione Keefer Jr., all of whom played big parts on the defense last season.
One final position the Rangers hope to have filled is in their kicking game, where Hayden Wolfe leaves a big hole. Wolfe transferred to Troy after putting together one of the best seasons a kicker has ever had for Northwest.
In his place comes Will Uselton from Hernando, where for the last two years, he has been showing off a leg that earned 30 touchbacks as a kickoff specialist, a career-long field goal of 46 yards, and being named the 7A Region 1 Special Teams Player of the Year.
The youth on the team isn't something that the coaching staff sees as an excuse, but more a chance to really provide depth for this year and next year at the same time.
"Of course, we always have turnover," Parker said, "but I don't know if we've ever had just one guy that has started and played all the time coming back. It is what it is, and as we continue to get better and the young guys keep coming along, that will help us down the road for sure."
The new team kicks off the season on Thursday night when they travel to Jones College to face off against a Bobcats team that was 5-4 last season.
Everything ramps up in the next two weeks, with a throwback game on September 3rd at Bobby Franklin Field for the home opener against #5 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in a rematch of the MACCC Championship, and a trip to Wesson on September 10th for a rematch against #9 Copiah-Lincoln Community College in a rematch of last year's semifinal.
Parker said that will be a stretch that will really test the mettle of the incoming freshman.
"It's going to be tough. I mean, Jones, Gulf Coast, and Co-Lin right out the gate with one returning starter- that's tough."
Division play begins the week after with home games against Mississippi Delta Community College and Coahoma Community College bookending a trip to Booneville, where the Rangers will take on Northeast Mississippi Community College.
A road trip to Homles follows on October 8th before two games at home, including a pivotal game against Itawamba Community College, which received votes in the preseason poll and will be coming to Bobby Frankling Field on the 15th, prior to Southwest Mississippi Community College as the final home game of the year.
The season closes in what is expected to be an important game to finish the regular season with #11 East Mississippi Community College hosting the Rangers in Scooba on October 29th.
Only one team from each division will make it to the MACCC and Region 23 Championship Game, which will be played on the first weekend of November at a host site.
Overall, five other teams from the MACCC were either ranked or receiving votes entering the season, and Northwest will be facing off against all but Hinds Community College.
Keep up with news and more from the Northwest football team by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
