Senatobia, Miss. – Everything in the world seemed right again for Jeremy Liggins on Thursday night after returning to the position he honed and crafted his skills at for the majority of his gridiron career.

The freshman transfer from Louisiana State University (LSU) came off the bench to the quarterback position and threw for 154 yards to help Northeast Mississippi Community College to a 34-21 road victory against Northwest Mississippi Community College at Bobby Franklin Field.

"That's my natural position, so it was just like a second instinct," said Liggins, who has committed to the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). "We went in at halftime and made some adjustments. We knew if we executed that there could be some big plays for us and we did."

Liggins made the key play of the second half after Northwest had just edged within six points on a D'Montrise Swinney 31-yard touchdown catch from Karsten Miller.

After fellow signal caller Jerrard Randall led the Tigers down the field, Liggins put the game away with a 25-yard scoring pass to LaVontis Smith that gave Northeast its winning margin.

The former Lafayette County High School star completed 6 of 13 passes and had three touchdowns. He entered the contest during the Tigers' second drive and took them 94 yards in only six plays.

Liggins was perfect in three passing attempts on his first possession behind center in two seasons. His second strike went 50 yards to Demarrion Haynes to put Northeast in the red zone.

Three plays later, Chandler Dexter leaped over two defenders while falling backwards and hauled in a beautiful 17-yard touchdown pass from Liggins which gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead just eight minutes into the matchup.

"They called the pass play I wanted. I had never scored a college touchdown, so it felt really good," said Dexter. "Coach (Ricky Smither) had us a good plan and we just executed."

Liggins began the 2013 campaign at defensive end and was getting stronger at the position each week. He had 14 tackles and set a career-high with seven last Thursday against Holmes Community College.

Randall and Liggins split time in the quarterback slot throughout the contest and totaled 441 all-purpose yards. The dynamic passing duo could be very beneficial for Smither and give him more options on offense moving forward.

"I'm really proud of both of those guys," said Smither. "Randall is a speed guy and Jeremy is like a big bull. They both bring an aspect to the game that most coaches would dream about having. I'm very blessed to have them both."

What was built as a head-to-head battle between two of the three best running backs in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) turned out to be the exact opposite.

Northeast (2-2, 2-0) leading rusher Mitchell Cunningham was held to 26 yards while the leading runner in the state, Northwest's Damian Baker, did not break the century mark for the second time this year and finished with 77 yards.

Smith led Northeast's solid receiving core with 177 yards on seven catches. The West Oktibbeha High School product tallied three touchdowns, two of them at a critical point in the game.

The Rangers scored in back-to-back drives in the second quarter on Karsten Miller passes to Kentrell Spencer and Swinney to tie things up at 14-14.

With momentum on the Northwest (1-3, 1-1) sideline and facing a 3rd down & long play, Randall broke two tackles in the backfield and fired a laser downfield to a wide-open Smith for a 65-yard touchdown that put the Tigers ahead for good.

Smith then extended Northeast's lead to 27-14 by catching a 26-yard scoring pass from Liggins with barely over a minute until the break.

"It feels great to step across the end zone," Smith said. "It really lets you know that you've helped your team and put them in a position to win. I couldn't have done it without my teammates.

"We set them up with the run and then after that the middle of the field was wide open so I couldn't help but haul them in."

Matthew Belue saw time at running back and scored on the first carry of his collegiate career. The 1-yard scamper put the Tigers up 7-0 early and was set up by a nice grab by Khalil Stinson as he was falling out-of-bounds.

The Tigers amassed a season-high 533 yards of total offense with the help of a group of linemen, led by sophomore Romia Wilson, that did not allow a sack.

Defensively, Razean Prather had his second straight dominating performance with nine tackles, three of them for loss.

Northeast returns home to Tiger Stadium next Thursday to host currently top-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (3-1). The Tigers and Bulldogs are scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.