BOONEVILLE, Miss. - The 2024 edition of the Northeast Mississippi Community College football team got the competitive juices flowing at the end of its inaugural week of fall camp.
Northeast participated in a situational scrimmage on Friday, August 9 at the practice field adjacent to Tiger Stadium. It is the first of three planned intrasquads for the Tigers during their preseason preparations.
The Tigers were tested by their coaches in various circumstances such as third downs, two-point conversions, red zone opportunities from inside the 20-yard line and the two-minute drill.
"We're pleased to a degree," said Northeast headman Greg Davis. "That was the first time we really turned loose and had live tackling. We've got to continue working on running to the football and being aggressive. We've got to get everybody swarming to the ball."
Incoming freshman Rickey Banks was an antagonist for the Tigers at the linebacker position. The former Class 7A All-State selection at Madison Central High School had a team-best seven takedowns, including three tackles for loss, and a sack.
Senatobia's Carlous Robinson, who saw action in eight games for Northeast last season, followed with five tackles and a pass break up. Coby Owens from Saltillo and Kenneth Yates of West Point joined Banks in registering a sack.
Each quarterback had their positive moments. Jeremiah Harrell kept Northeast's fourth possession alive with a 50-yard scramble before being relieved by Kossuth's Jack Johnson, who trotted across the goal line untouched two plays later.
Caden Greer of Kosciusko did not throw an incompletion all day. His 34-yard connection with Saltillo's JT Beasley set up a three-yard touchdown run by Dylan Lewis from Brandon late in the exhibition.
Tupelo's Harrell finished with just under 200 yards between the air and the ground. He had touchdown passes to Makyi Reed-Jones of Oxford in the red zone and to Antonio Kennedy in the two-minute offense.
Kennedy's 51-yard catch-and-run featured multiple broken tackles. The Choctaw County High School graduate established himself as a tough runner one year ago after leading the Tigers with 70 rushing attempts.
"I pride myself in yards after contact. I'm able to take a lot of hits like that," Kennedy said. "It was a good day. We're getting back into shape. I started out slow, but picked it up towards the end."
The defense forced three takeaways, including an interception by Broderick Alexander of Corinth and a fumble recovery from Madison's Ryan McCall. Jordan Pratt from Houston had a 20-yard pick-six on Northeast's sixth offensive drive.
"The ball was tipped and I ended up coming down with it. I had some blockers in front of me and got to the end zone," said Pratt. "We're getting the team chemistry going. We play hard for each other and keep our confidence up."
The Tigers are less than three weeks away from their season opener against East Central Community College on Thursday, August 29. The first of five home games for Northeast is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.