Booneville, Miss.,--Northeast freshman quarterback Matt Lipham took control of his team in the second half and led the Tigers to their first win of the 2012 season in Ellisville on Saturday night by defeating the Bobcats 30-21.

Lipham threw for 287 yards on 23-of-42 for three touchdowns and one interception to help propel the Tigers over Jones County Junior College. Lipham's favorite target on the evening was newcomer freshman wide out DeMarrion Haynes, who lead all recievers with seven catches for 144 yards and one touchdown on the night.

"It was a great team effort tonight," said head coach Ricky Smither. "Matt (Lipham) did a great job with the offense and I think a lot of our young guys grew up tonight and this was a big win for us here tonight.

The team effort by the Tigers showed in the third quarter as the Tigers outscored the Bobcats 20-7. Runningback Jay Jones got things started in the second half with a 1-yard plunge into the endzone with 12:34 left to play in the third frame to knot the score up at 14-14 after the Chris CooperPAT.

Later in the third quarter, Lipham hit freshman WR Raymond Gee Jr. for a 24-yard touchdown pass to give Northeast the lead 20-14 after Cooper's PAT was blocked by the Bobcats. Northeast added to their lead with 4:33 left in the frame when Lipham found Jones for a 23-yard strike to paydirt that put the Tigers up 27-14.

However, Jones County wouldn't go away without a fight, quarterback Ben Stevens hit Dylan Bossier for a 50-yard TD pass and cut the Tigers' lead to six points 27-20 with 1:23 left in the third.

Both teams were scoreless in the final quarter until freshman kicker Chris Cooper was able to seal the deal for Northeast by hitting a 36-yard field goal with 3:36 left in the game putting the Tigers up 30-21.

The Tiger defense held the Bobcats on the ensuing drive by stopping Jones on a fourth down try and took over on downs to run out the clock from the victory formation.

Top performers for the Tigers -- outside of Lipham and Haynes-- was Jones, who finished with 123 yards on 29 carries along with two TD's, and his back-up Pascal Desir III who had 59 yards on the ground on nine carries. Defensively, the Tigers were led by LB Nick Thomason who finished with nine total tackles and safety Brian Walker who added seven stops.

Northeast will have a short week to prepare for their first north division opponent this week as they travel to Madison Central to take on the Holmes Community College Bulldogs on Thursday, September 13. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. at Madison Central High School.

Tiger fans can catch the action by tunning in to WNAU AM 1470 in New Albany. Fans can tune in to the live webcast by going towww.wnau1470.com in order to catch all the play-by-play action. A link will also be available at our new athletic website atwww.nemccathletics.com.

Northeast football fans can also go to our Daktronics stats link to follow the game live in progresshttp://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Team/TeamPage.aspx?association=14&sg=MFB&sea=JUCMFB_2012&team=16061.

PICTURED ABOVE: #10 Safety Brian Walker tackles a Jones player in Ellisville on Saturday, September 8, 2012 where the Tigers defeated the Bobcats 31-20 to move to 1-1 overall.