BOONEVILLE, Miss. – Northeast Mississippi Community College's football team gave the nation's sixth-best team all it wanted on Thursday, September 20 at Tiger Stadium.
Northeast (1-3, 0-2 in North Division) pushed the sixth-ranked Northwest Mississippi Rangers to the breaking point beforefalling 19-13 in Booneville.
During the 2011 season, Northeast knocked off Northwest 34-28 in Senatobia when the Rangers were the tenth-best team in the country.
In the renewal of one of the oldest football series in school history, Northeast did not disappoint. Ricky Smither's Tigers tied the Rangers after the initial period (7-7) and stayed within striking distance for the rest of the contest.
Northeast had a chance to hand Northwest its second straight loss in the series after Chris Cooper (Madison) connected on a 37-yard field goal with 2:49 left in the contest to make it 19-13.
Northeast then recovered the ensuing on-side kick after Northwest touched the ball before it went 10 yards and the Tigers were within striking distance for the go-ahead score.
Starter Nolan Genovese (Corinth) connected on his longest pass of the night as the sophomore found Demarrion Haynes (Rosedale) open along the middle of the field for a 41-yard connection down to the Ranger 20 on third-and-11.
Genovese had kept the drive alive with analert play on second-and-15 from the Tigers 35 by completing a four-yard pass to himself after the ball slipped during a passing attempt and the sophomore quarterback gathered the loose pigskin from the air and scampered for positive yardage.
With just under a minute remaining, Antwan Wilson (Charleston) pushed inside the red zone with a four-yard run but a delay of game penalty relegated the Tigers back to the Ranger 21 with just over 30 seconds remaining.
Genovese looked to repeat his performance on the previous third-and-11 down but Ranger Randolph Williams stepped in front of Genovese's pass at the line of scrimmage and thwarted the Tiger drive.
During the fifty-third meeting, Northeast and Northwest highlighted all three phases of the game.
Special teams did most of the lifting forboth teams. Between Cooper and Northwest place kicker Chris Carpenter, kickers accounted for the final 20 of the combined 32 points (two extra points and six field goals).
However, in the first four offensive series of the game, fans witnessed the offenses score on the three initial drives of the contest and on the fifth and seventh possessions before both defenses came to life.
Northwest opened the scoring when Teshai Talton punched in from a yard out with 9:18 left to go in the first quarter but Northeast answered when Pascal Desir, III (Jackson) jaunted in from five yards out with 3:30 showing.
A pair of Carpenter field goals gave the Rangers a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter but the Rangers could only manage another Carpenter field goal – a 37-yarder – with 5:24 left in the first half against Travis Macon's defense.
Macon and former Northeast head coach turned Ranger defensive coordinator Andy Greening's defenses squared off during the middle portion of the contest.
In total, both teams combined for 22 tackles for loss for 109 yards and 8 sacks for 69 yards with Northeast's Nick Thomason leading the way with a game-high 12 total tackles and Martice Buckley finished with 10 (six solos and four assists).
Rezean Prather (Falkner) accomplished both of the sacks for Northeast. The freshman from Falkner tallied a 21-yard loss that stalled a Northwest drive at midfield during the third quarter and led to aCooper 37-yard field goal.
Prather was also credited with his secondsack of the night when he forced the Northwest quarterback out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage on a passing play.
Northeast punter Jonathan Harrison returned to form and helped the Tigers control the field position battle when the sophomore from Belmont averaged 47 yards a kick on his three punts of the night.
Harrison's first kick of the night was the sophomore's best – a 57-yard boot, which was downed at the Ranger 1 with 2:52 left in the first half.
Harrison's three kicks of the night only resulted in one return for no yards against the Rangers. Harrison has 16 punts on the year with five landing inside the 20, four touchbacks and forced onefair catch. On the season, Northeast has only allowed four punt returns forthree yards.
Northeast will look to get back on the winning track next week as the Tigers make the trek to Perkinston to take on the nation's top ranked team – Mississippi Gulf Coast – in a repeat of the Mississippi Association of Community/Junior College's (MACJC) 2011 semifinals when the Tigers carried the Bulldogs to overtime in a 20-17 game.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 27.
As with all Tiger football games, fans can hear Northeast Tiger football live by tuning into WNAU AM 1470 out of New Albany but for those that cannot pick up the broadcast, WNAU AM 1470 also offers live streaming by going to http://www.wnau1470.com and clicking on the "Streaming" button after kickoff. A link to the live Internet stream is also available on the Tigers new athletic website at http://www.nemccathletics.com.
Fans can also visit the Tigers in-game Daktronics stats link for live play-by-play action http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Team/TeamPage.aspx?association=14&sg=MFB&sea=JUCMFB_2012&team=16061 and clicking on the ((W)) beside the correct game on the schedule.
CUTLINE Northeast Mississippi Community College starting quarterback Nolan Genovese (9) tries to escape the grasp of Northwest Mississippi Community College defensive end Tarow Barney (95) during secondquarter action of the Tigers and Rangers National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) football game on Thursday, September 20 at Tiger Stadium in Booneville.