SENATOBIA – Despite what was a championship effort from the #3 Northwest Mississippi Community College football team (1-1), they couldn't hold off #5 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (2-0) on Thursday night at Bobby Franklin Field, falling 36-34 to the Bulldogs in what was a rematch of last season's MACCC Championship game.
The contest was extremely tight, with three ties in the first half and featured four lead changes throughout, with neither team able to build more than a nine-point advantage at any time in the game. Both teams combined to earn over 900 total yards of offense on the night, including over 100 yards passing from both Ranger quarterbacks and a pair of rushing touchdowns to help the effort.
Northwest got onto the board first, driving 51 yards on the opening series to set up freshman kicker Will Uselton with a 43-yard field goal attempt, which he drilled through the uprights to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead after just over two minutes had come off the clock.
A touchback on the ensuing kickoff to Gulf Coast set the Bulldogs up at the 25, and they would convert on a pair of third downs on their way to a 12-play, 52-yard drive to set up a 41-yard field goal of their own, tying the game at three and taking over six minutes off the clock on the way down the field.
Both sides continued to play the imitation game on their next possessions, as the Rangers went 75 yards on seven plays, capping a scoring drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jourdan Butler from Neko Fann to regain the lead at 10-3, only to see the Bulldogs answer with a 62 yard touchdown run of their own when Elijah Jones-Crosby broke free for a score to tie the game back at ten-all.
After punts on the next three drives, the Bulldogs were given the chance to take their first lead, and once more, it was a big play that gave them a score when quarterback Josh Flowers found Michael Moore on a 59-yard completion down the visiting sideline with 11:40 left to go up 17-10.
That was a short-lived advantage because Northwest turned around and drove the length of the field behind Noah Gillon, keyed by over 30 yards of rushing from transfer Damon Sisa, capping the series with a 16-yard rush to even the score back at 17-all.
Both sides would hold serve on defense until the final drive of the first half, when Gulf Coast churned out a 60-yard drive on nine plays, stalling at the four-yard line and forcing a field goal attempt with 18 seconds on the clock.
Despite getting a hand on the kick, the Bulldogs picked up a fortuitous bounce off the crossbar, just leaking over to give them a 20-17 lead at the break.
Gulf Coast received the second-half kickoff and once again drove deep into the Northwest half of the field, but on fourth-and-one at the Ranger 34, the defense held, and Linkin Sanders was the cause, taking down Jones-Crosby in the backfield for an emphatic four-yard loss.
That momentum transferred to the offense, which proceeded to drive 62 yards on eight plays, with Fann taking his turn to cross the goal line on an 18-yard quarterback keeper to give the lead back to Northwest, going up 24-20.
Neither team scored again in the third quarter, but Gulf Coast did start a drive that would result in a go-ahead score for the Bulldogs with just over two minutes left in the third, covering 82 yards on the way to an eight-play scoring drive that gave them the lead back with 13:50 left in the game on a 17-yard touchdown by Jailen Wheeler. The PAT was missed to keep it a two-point game, but after a quick three-and-out by Northwest, Gulf Coast would repeat their success, going 70 yards on two plays thanks to a 66-yard quarterback scramble by Flowers to extend the lead to 33-24.
Northwest answered three drives later to keep the game close after their defense was able to force a three-and-out from the Bulldogs that set them up at midfield, driving the ball to the MGCCC 14-yard line before settling for a 31-yard field goal from Uselton to close the game to one possession.
The Northwest defense would force a fumble two plays later to give the Rangers another chance from midfield, but an interception by Gulf Coast stole momentum back, and the Bulldogs turned that into a 33-yard drive, setting up a 51-yard field goal of their own to go up by nine again with just 1:48 left on the clock and the Rangers without any timeouts.
Gillon would captain a final drive that would result in a two-yard touchdown pass to Clydarrien Peters as time expired, but it wouldn't affect the final result as Gulf Coast escaped with a narrow 36-34 win.
Both Gillon and Fann threw for over 100 yards in the game, with Fann going 14-of-27 for 192 and both with one touchdown and one interception. He added his first rushing touchdown of the year as well, carrying the ball five times for nine yards. Gillon finished the game 10-of-19 for 110 yards and a score, carrying the ball three times for nine yards.
The rushing attack was balanced in carries, with both Damon Sisa and Macaleb Taylor both carrying the ball nine times for 50 and 30 yards, respectively, and Sisa added a touchdown to boot.
Quincey Phillips Jr. led the team in receiving yards, hauling in four catches for 92 yards, including a long of 48. Taylor and Peters both had five receptions, with Taylor adding 57 yards to his game total for 87 all-purpose yards on the night. Peters finished with 48 yards and a touchdown.
Zavion Carman added two receptions for 24 yards, TyAnthony Elmore finished with 21 yards on three receptions, and Dagarrious Clifton had 20 yards on two receptions. Sisa also had two receptions for 25 yards, and Bulter's 15-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was his only catch of the game.
On the defensive side, Kris Thompson continued to be a force, picking up seven tackles to lead the team along with Jamarcus Flowers. Donalvin Wilson Jr. added six more, including a half sack, two tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery.
The Rangers defense combined for 11 TFL's in the game for 29 yards and one sack.
Uselton bounced back from his 1-for-3 night on field goals at Jones College, going 2-for-2 on the night with a long for 43 yards, and was perfect on extra points. He also averaged 43.8 yards per punt on his six attempts, with a long of 53 and only one touchback.
Northwest will be back in action on September 10th when they are back on the road with a trip to Wesson for a rematch of last year's MACCC semifinal, where they held off the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves in a 28-27 thriller thanks to a walk-off interception. Both teams are entering the game at 1-1 after the Wolves bounced back from their season-opening loss to Mississippi Delta Community College to defeat Holmes Community College 47-27 on the road.
Kickoff for the game is set for 6:30 PM, and you can watch all of the action at nwccrangers.com/watch, with the pregame show beginning at 6 PM with Tyler Springs and Russell Copeland on the call. Follow along with Northwest football and more on Ranger social media accounts.
