Defense Keys Rangers’ 31-14 Victory over Pearl River

Northwest Mississippi Community College rallied from an early deficit for a second straight week and used a strong defensive effort on an off night for the offense to defeat Pearl River 31-14 in the home-opener at Bobby Franklin Field.

The Rangers won their eighth straight game at home to improve to 2-0 on the young season, while PRCC dropped to 0-2.

Northwest led 3-0 after a quarter of play thanks to a 32-yard field goal by Drake McCarter, his third of the season in three attempts.

Pearl River took its first lead with 3:15 remaining in the first half on a busted coverage play that resulted in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Dunn to Cameron Bolton.

With 11 ticks left in the half, Northwest strung together a 5-play, 66-yard drive, capped by Clay Holgorsen’s 21-yard touchdown strike to Marquisian Chapman, to take a 10-7 lead into the break.

Northwest used that momentum to score 21 unanswered points, quickly stretching its lead to 24-7 after three quarters.

KyKy Austin hauled in his first touchdown pass of the season from 30 yards out and Quarderman Sloan added a 9-yard touchdown run as the Rangers took advantage of a short field both times thanks to turnovers.

PRCC got within 24-14 with 7:01 to play on Timothy Arnold’s 14-yard strike to Joronnie Hinton before Tywun Walters put the finishing touches on the Wildcats with a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:36 remaining to make the final 31-14.

Northwest’s defense hounded PRCC all evening, holding the Wildcats to 256 total yards and finishing with 13 tackles-for-loss, seven sacks and 15 quarterback hurries.

Alabama transfer Adonis Thomas had six tackles and a sack, followed by Fred Garth Jr. with five stops and Willie McCalebwith five tackles, 3.0 tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks. Wesley Bush and Tito Windham added interceptions.

Offensively, Holgorsen finished 15-for-26 for 182 yards and his first two touchdown passes as a Ranger. Chapman had a team-high five catches for 71 yards and a score. Alex Norwood had four grabs for 47 yards and Austin added three for 49 yards and a score.

Sloan and Walters each found the end zone for a second straight week, with Sloan finishing with 74 yards on 10 carries and Walters rushing for 51 on 21 carries.

PRCC managed just seven yards on the ground on 31 carries, a bulk of the negative yards coming on sacks. Short-handed at the quarterback position, Dunn was 14-for-29 for 177 yards, a touchdown and two picks, while Arnold was 5-for-8 for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Northwest (2-0) will host unbeaten and 11th-ranked Itawamba (2-0) next Thursday night at Bobby Franklin Field. The two teams will join together off the gridiron during the game for Childhood Cancer Awareness.

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Courtesy of Kevin Maloney and Northwest Sports Information Department

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