#7 Nationally Ranked Northwest Ignites in Second Half to take 31-3 win over Trojans

By Mark H. Stowers

Tied at three at halftime, the Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans (1-6 overall, 0-4 MACCC) couldn't keep the momentum against Northwest Thursday night in a 31-3 loss. The Rangers, 6-1 overall and 4-0 tied atop the MACCC, tallied 303 yards of offense on the night as the Trojans put up 224 - 121 passing and 103 rushing. Sophomore quarterback Troy Griffin was 14-of-22 for 103 yards with one interception. Connor Whitson was 2-for-4 for 18 yards. Trevon Brown had 12 carries for 42 yards while Davion Alston had nine carries for 37 yards. The only score for the Trojans was a 27-yard field goal from Ceidrick Hunt as the first half expired.

Trojan Head Coach Tavares Johnson Sr. explained his team just needs more bodies to stay in the game for four quarters.

"We just ran out of gas, man," Coach Johnson said. "We just couldn't get in the end zone early on. There's some problems in the red zone. The guys played well the first half. Just ran out of gas, basically. We have to build some depth. The team is coming around, they understand what we're trying to accomplish. We just got to get a few more pieces of the puzzle together."

Northwest made adjustments at halftime and put their ground game to work in the third and fourth quarters.

"They made a conscious effort to start running the ball, and to go hurry up on us to keep us from substituting, and they wore us down in the second half."

He noted that on offense it all starts up front.

"We got to block better up front. We just keep working on all the basics and trying to keep everybody healthy."

The Trojans hit the road to take on East in Scooba this week. The Lions are 3-4 overall and 2-2 in MACCC.

"They can be big. You know, we got to play that kind of football. If we do that, we have a chance to win the game."

The Trojans have been hot and heavy recruiting with quite a few recruits showing up to games recently.

"We had 42 at last week's game and quite a few last night," Coach Johnson said.

Looking at the MACCC, Holmes and Northwest are tied for first place in the North with 4-0 records. In the South, Mississippi Gulf Coast (6-1 overall) sits atop with a 4-1 record while East Central is in second place at 2-1. On the National level, the MACCC dominates the rankings.

Holmes is at #6 followed by #7 ranked Northwest, #14 Itawamba and Copiah Lincoln received votes in the poll as well.