The reigning national champion Northwest Rangers picked up where they left off in December, rolling to a 40-17 season-opening win over No. 19 Hinds Thursday night at Joe Renfroe Stadium.
Northwest (1-0) won its fifth consecutive game dating back to last season and its seventh over a ranked opponent in their last 13 games. Benjy Parker was also victorious in his first game as a college head coach.
After falling behind 7-3 after a quarter of play, Tywun Walters’ 1-yard touchdown run, the first of his career, capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive to give the Rangers the lead for good.
Fred Garth Jr. and Willie McCaleb each followed with defensive scores in the second quarter on a 42-yard interception return and 5-yard fumble return to give Northwest a 26-10 lead at half.
Two, lengthy third quarter drives put the game well out of reach, both finished off by Quarderman Sloan touchdowns. Sloan scored from five and seven yards out to cap scoring drives of 80 and 92 yards in which the Rangers’ offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage.
Hinds scored the lone touchdown of the fourth quarter with just under 7 minutes remaining as Micah Zanders rumbled in from 1-yard out.
Northwest finished with 410 total yards, a solid balance of 212 on the ground and 198 through the air, and held Hinds to 301 yards – 114 of those coming in the fourth quarter with the game already decided.
Memphis transfer quarterback Clay Holgorsen finished 15-for-20 for 198 yards, hitting six different receivers, including Jerrick Orr a team-high five times for 62 yards. Marquisian Chapman added four grabs for 52 yards.
Sloan rushed for 100 yards and two scores on 21 carries and Walters added 89 on the ground to go along with a touchdown.
Zanders was 15-for-36 for 272 yards and a score and was sacked five times. Hinds finished with 29 yards rushing on 28 carries.
Defensively the Rangers were led by Quondarius Qualls’ three tackles and two sacks and Tomarcio Reese’s five tackles. Northwest finished with five total sacks, six tackles-for-loss, nine quarterback hurries and four breakups.
Alvin Wilson had a game-high 18 tackles for Hinds, followed by Nic Chatman with 10.
Northwest will host Pearl River on Thursday, Sept. 8 for the Rangers’ home-opener at Bobby Franklin Field.
Courtesy of Kevin Maloney and NWCC Sports Information
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