BOONEVILLE, Miss. - The Northeast Mississippi Community College football program will pay the price for having one of the least strenuous road schedules in its history one year ago.
The Tigers have more games away than at home for the first time in four seasons during their 64th all-time campaign on the gridiron.
"It's never going to be an easy schedule," said Northeast head coach Greg Davis. "At the end of the day, nobody in this league is bad. There's really no off weeks. It'll be interesting to see what happens."
Northeast does get to begin its new season at Tiger Stadium for the first time since the coronavirus affected 2020 campaign when Hinds Community College comes to town on Thursday, September 7.
The Tigers' longest trip of the year takes place one week later at over four hours and approximately 300 miles to Pearl River Community College. It is only the fourth visit to Poplarville for Northeast in the last two decades.
The annual rivalry matchup between the Tigers and Itawamba Community College serves as the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) North Division opener for both teams for the second consecutive campaign on Thursday, September 21.
Northeast will travel for three of its next four contests. That includes meetings with Mississippi Delta Community College and East Central Community College on September 28 and October 12, respectively.
The Tigers wrap up that stretch by competing against reigning conference champion East Mississippi Community College on October 21. It is the third straight Saturday afternoon game for Northeast in Scooba.
Homecoming festivities take over the Booneville campus during the first week of October. Holmes Community College is the Tigers' opponent for that important date on the 5th.
Northeast concludes the regular season by hosting the "Battle of the Tigers" with Coahoma Community College on September 26 before making the trek to Northwest Mississippi Community College on November 2.
Kickoff times for each of Northeast's home contests is 6:30 p.m. with the exception of homecoming. That game will begin at 7 p.m. due to the extra activities on that day, including the sports and alumni hall of fame induction ceremony.