BOONEVILLE, Miss. - Six weeks of hard work in training camp paid off for the Northeast Mississippi Community College football team during its long-awaited opening game.
Northeast wrapped up its annual Military Appreciation Night with an historic 20-7 victory over visiting Hinds Community College on Thursday, September 7 inside Tiger Stadium.
It was the first home triumph over the Eagles since, ironically, September 7th of 1974. Northeast has now captured back-to-back wins against Hinds for the first time since the 1979-80 seasons.
"It was a long camp and we finally put it all together and got some things going," said Tigers head coach Greg Davis. "The one thing that we did really well tonight is we sustained drives and we flipped field position. Overall, it was a very good win."
Northeast also played excellent defensively. The Tigers limited Hinds, who is receiving votes in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) rankings, to only 90 yards in the first half and to less than 300 yards of offense overall for the second consecutive year.
The Eagles broke up the shutout attempt in the second half. However, the Tigers were still superb with a critical goal line stand in the third quarter and an interception by Jacob Foster that ended the last scoring threat for Hinds.
The Eagles had third-and-goal from the one-yard line, but were stopped on two straight plays. Brandon Watkins recorded the third down tackle while John Jackson, Keaton Thomas and a host of Tigers were involved with the fourth down stop.
Foster's pick came with Hinds (0-1) driving into Northeast territory at the 2:05 mark of the fourth period. The Troy (Ala.) University transfer also finished with eight tackles and a sack during his debut in a black-and-gold uniform.
"I'm not gonna lie. When I caught it, I was like, 'Gahlee, I'm worn out,'" Foster said with a smile. "It was a great feeling to seal the win. The coaches had a great game plan. I'm really proud of my teammates."
The Tigers' first points of the new season came on a short touchdown pass from Justin Kowalak to Chris McMillian. It capped a 13-play, 72-yard possession by Northeast (1-0) to begin the night.
Northeast cashed in on another lengthy drive of 90 yards early in the second. Cameron Dill connected with Kylen Vaughn for a 14-yard touchdown that increased the Tigers' advantage to 13-0 after the Guy Gillespie extra point.
The final score of the contest for Northeast was produced by its special teams unit. Thomas blocked a punt, which was scooped up by Cortavious Rogers and returned 10 yards into the end zone just a minute and a half out of the intermission.
"I just saw the ball bounce up," said Rogers. "We've been working on that all week. We take a lot of pride in it in practice. We just attacked it and executed it. It felt very good."
Kowalak completed 17 of 26 passes for 143 yards in his inaugural start at quarterback for Northeast. Tyrell Randall and Jayden Robinson were his top targets with five receptions apiece for a combined 87 yards.
Robinson accumulated 97 all-purpose yards, including 66 rushing yards on a team-best 12 carries. The Tigers have won four of their last five season openers dating back to 2019.
Northeast travels to Pearl River Community College next Thursday, September 14 for its final tune-up prior to division play. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Poplarville.