BOONEVILLE – In a tough environment on Thursday night, #11 Northwest Mississippi Community College (3-2, 2-0) picked up a big win in the MACCC North Division over Northeast Mississippi Community College (1-4, 0-2) in a 20-10 thriller that wasn't decided until the final drive.
The win gave Northwest back-to-back victories for the first time this year, and Head Coach Benjy Parker said it was a well-fought game against an opponent who always plays them tough.
"It's always tough to play here," he said. "They had just had a big rival game with Itawamba and came back for their homecoming, so I knew it'd be tough. They have a good team and a good quarterback, so I'm proud of our guys getting out here with a win."
After starting out on defense, Northwest was able to force a three-and-out to gain possession after only two minutes, and the offense was able to get to work, but after converting the first down on their first drive, they were hit with an intentional grounding penalty that pushed them back into the shadow of their own goal line, and they were forced to punt.
The Tigers opened their next drive in Ranger territory after the punt only went 36 yards, but the Ranger defense again stood tall after allowing a big run early and were able to hold the Tigers outside of the red zone. On fourth and eight, a deep pass for the end zone sailed long, and the turnover on downs returned the ball to the Rangers.
Northwest went to work on their second possession, marching deep into the Northeast side of the field, setting up a first-and-goal. Three Neko Fann runs later, the Rangers were up 7-0 after the sophomore picked up his third rushing touchdown of the season.
The Tigers started to respond on their next drive, but a fumble near midfield turned the ball back over to Northwest, giving the Rangers a chance to build on the lead, and they capitalized with a drive that got inside the 15-yard line before stalling, resulting in a 33-yard Will Uselton field goal.
A long pass led off the Tigers' next drive, and they would turn that into a scoring drive for the first time on the night, finishing their third possession with a third-down-and-12 pass that found the middle of the end zone and a 10-7 game with just under five minutes left in the opening half.
The Rangers drove the ball on their answering drive into Northeast's half of the field, but after getting it to the 40-yard line, they would stall after going for it on fourth down, and a dropped pass gave the ball back to the home side with just over three minutes left and a chance for them to take the momentum back into the half.
Several long conversions on third downs extended the Tigers' drive into the red zone, setting them up with the ball inside the 20, but for the second time, the Rangers stood tall on the way to forcing a blocked kick thanks to Javorius Lundy, holding onto a 10-7 lead at the break.
After adjustments at the half, both defenses were able to set the tone at the opening of the half, with punts on the first two possessions by the Tigers as the Northwest defense began to control the home side's offense more.
"It's good to get the offense the ball back in good field position and keep giving them chances," sophomore safety Jamarcus Flowers said. "We knew he was the one who extended plays for them and made them go."
The Tigers had the best chance to score, driving inside the 15-yard line before they stalled out, attempting a 37-yard field goal, but a bobbled snap would disrupt the hold, and for the second time, Northeast would be denied points by the Rangers' defense.
That seemed to give the Rangers' offense a spark to get the engine going again, moving the ball out of the shadows of their goalpost, and on the final play of the quarter, Noah Gillon was able to find TyAnthony Elmore on a 52-yard touchdown pass for the longest play of the game, extending the lead back to 10 and quieting the Tigers' homecoming crowd.
"That play totally flipped the whole script of the game," center Hunter Holland said. "We got a lot of energy from it. It's just great whenever you look down, and something like that happens."
Northeast was led on an answering drive that once more made it inside the red zone, but as was the story throughout the game, they would stall out and were forced to settle for a short field goal attempt, and for the first time on the night, the Tigers made a 25-yard field goal to close it to a one-score game at 17-10.
Both of the next two drives were three-and-outs for both teams, leading to the Rangers getting the ball with just over seven minutes remaining, and Gillon led the final push for the Rangers to ice the game, marching to the Northeast 20 before settling for a 36-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to finish off the game with a 20-10 win.
The second half saw more movement from the Ranger offense, and Holland said that is the sign that they are picking up on the cues from the defense as the game progresses.
"We took some time to feel it out and see how the defense is going to be and adjust to make the calls we need to make," he said. "Late in the second half is when we can really get things going and make things click."
As can be expected in a close game, the numbers at the end were extremely close.
Northwest just edged the Tigers in total yards with 298 to 291 but controlled the passing game with 185 yards between Fann and Gillon, completing 16-of-27 of their passes with one touchdown.
Elmore led the way with receptions and yards, with seven catches for 101 yards for his second 100-yard game of the year. DJ Woods added three for 27 yards to go with his nine carries for 31 yards on the ground. Zavion Carman also caught three for 23 yards.
On the ground, Jeremiah Harkins was the leading back with nine carries for 34 yards, and Gillon added six carries for 33. Macaleb Taylor finished out the main ball carriers with nine carries for 26 yards. The lone rushing touchdown was from Fann, who was under pressure all night, getting sacked twice for 29 yards.
As a whole, the Rangers were hit in the backfield seven times, losing 42 yards, but their defense was able to respond with 5 TFLs for 18 yards, including a pair of sacks for 15 yards from Devin Smith and Donalvin Wilson Jr.
Kris Thompson led the team in tackles with seven, and Jack Ridgway and Linkin Sanders added six each.
The Rangers extended their winning streak over the Tigers to 12 games, with the last loss coming in 2014, and the overall record over Northeast to 47-18-2.
The Rangers are back in action on October 1st when they play host to Coahoma Community College at Bobby Franklin Field, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. as the highlight of Northwest's homecoming week festivities. Pregame for the broadcast on Ranger TV will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Tyler Springs and Russell Copeland on the call.
Coahoma is coming off of a narrow loss to Itawamba in a 42-41 shootout, and Parker said the Rangers will need to put in work to make sure they are ready for the Tigers.
"We still are not where we need to be," he said. "We have a lot of improving we need to do, and all of us need to go back to work."
Holland echoed the statement, saying Coahoma is a team that despite the record has been right there with some of the top teams in the conference.
"It's really important because we can't afford to lose at this point," the sophomore said. "We need to win out if we want to be where we want to be, and they definitely that we can't overlook and will take advantage of you if you do that."
You can follow along with Northwest football and more at nwccrangers.com or by visiting Ranger social media accounts.
