Scooba, Miss. – Dequinten Spraggins took Thursday night's game more personal, even before the Northeast Mississippi Community College safety stepped onto the all-turf playing surface of Sullivan-Windham Field.
The West Point High School graduate, playing close to home and against high school friends and former rivals, recorded a season-high 10 tackles and two pass breakups for the Tigers in a 59-0 loss at No. 3 East Mississippi Community College.
Spraggins evenly distributed his tackles between the two halves of action and made the hardest hit of the game in the second quarter. Just after the Lions had recovered a fumble, the sophomore delivered a clean lick in the end zone on Isaac Johnson that forced the football out of his hands and cost him a touchdown catch.
"That's why I took it so heavy because I really wanted to get after it," Spraggins said. "I came out ready to play and ready to win. I had my mind set."
Dontreal Pruitt created problems at times though for Spraggins and the Tiger defensive backfield with his athleticism. The quarterback from Laurel raced around and created plays when the Northeast linemen gave him pressure.
He passed for 327 yards with three touchdowns and added another score on the ground.
"We couldn't control (Pruitt)," said Spraggins. "He had so much time to throw the ball that we couldn't cover it sometimes in our secondary. That's what happens when you get a quarterback that can scramble and throw it at the same time."
The Tigers held their opponent below its average in total yards (615) and points scored (65) per contest, but could not touch the scoreboard themselves and fell victim to East Mississippi's fifth shutout of the season.
Northeast was contained to just 38 yards of total offense, the lowest count since compiling only 108 yards in a loss at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in 2011.
"That may be one of the best football teams we've faced," said Tigers head coach Ricky Smither. "They have got a great defense, probably one of the best I've been against here. Bottom line, they were better than us tonight."
Turnovers also haunted Northeast in its first defeat inside the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division. The Tigers had five miscues, three of them lost fumbles, which accounted for 21 East Mississippi points.
A bad snap over the head of punter Chris Cooper was recovered just three yards away from the end zone by the Lions. Todd Mays did the damage with a short touchdown run that put East Mississippi up 21-0 after the first quarter.
Two interceptions in the next period helped the Lions build their advantage to 38-0 by halftime. Johnson caught a 27-yard pass from Pruitt for a score only a handful of plays after the first, then Fenest Armstrong hauled in a pick-six for a defensive touchdown.
Pruitt added scoring connections of 72 yards to Justin Mack and 4 yards to Johnson as East Mississippi extended its lead to 52-0 by the time the horn sounded to end the third.
Mays concluded the Lions' evening with another short touchdown run in the final quarter. East Mississippi (7-0, 4-0) compiled 586 yards of offense, 402 through the air attack.
Marcus Robinson had a career night for the Tigers (3-4, 3-1). The freshman from Memphis, Tenn., recorded 16 tackles, three of them for loss, with one sack.
Martavis Ford also played soundly with a season best eight tackles, six of them unassisted.
Northeast looked as if it might move the ball with the Lions on its first possession. Jeremy Liggins completed back-to-back passes to Jerrard Randall and Khalil Stinson to move into East Mississippi territory.
The drive stalled, and Cooper placed a punt perfectly at the Lion five-yard line. However, East Mississippi would go the length of the field and score on a Pruitt rush and the Tigers never got back into sync from that point.
The 2013 campaign comes down to the next two weeks for Northeast if it wants to clinch a spot in the MACJC playoffs. The Tigers must essentially win the remainder of its matchups on the schedule.
"Our goal at the beginning was to try to make it to the playoffs and see what could happen," Smither said. "We've just got to get back to the drawing board and start back from the basics and get as good as we can these next two games."
The crucial home stretch for the Tigers starts next Thursday, October 17 with a trip to archrival Itawamba Community College (5-1, 3-0). Kickoff between Northeast and the No. 13 Indians is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Eaton Field.