Northwest football win third straight victory
Photo: Northwest tailback D’mariun Perteet rushes for one of his three touchdowns in the Rangers’ 35-16 victory at Coahoma. (Andrew Dale/nwccrangers.com)
Sept. 19, 2024 – With the help of a powerful rushing performance from D’mariun Perteet and a team-high 13 tackles from Caulen Dunn, 14th-ranked Northwest did enough to earn a 35-16 road win at Coahoma on Thursday evening.
Perteet rushed for a career-high 138 yards and three touchdowns, serving as the driving force of the Rangers’ offense. M.J. Johnson also hauled in three catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, while K.D. Gibson caught a 43-yard touchdown pass in the first half from Zach Wilcke.
Northwest improved to 3-1 on the season with the victory, while also improving to 2-0 in the MACCC North Division. Coahoma dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The Rangers also won their 14th straight contest against the Tigers, moving to 47-2 in the all-time series.
Right out of the gate, Northwest was practically gifted a touchdown, as Coahoma’s La’Zarious Penn fumbled the opening kickoff, with Ja Keyes recovering the ball on the Tigers’ 22-yard line. It took just four plays for the Rangers to reach the end zone, as Perteet scored from nine yards out.
However, Coahoma was eager to correct its opening mistake and Ashton Strother helped the Tigers do just that. On Coahoma’s first play from scrimmage, Strother rushed for 20 yards for a quick first down, before later finding Chris Davis for a 23-yard touchdown. The seven-play, 83-yard drive took just 3:20 off the clock and tied the game at 7-7.
Three plays into the next Northwest possession, Wilcke’s pass was intercepted by Jerrell Goodlow at the 40-yard line, giving the Tigers favorable field position. However, the Rangers’ defense didn’t allow Coahoma to go anywhere and Damian Gonzalez’ 54-yard field goal fell short and off target.
With the game still tied midway through the first quarter, Northwest responded with a five-play, 63-yard drive that ended in a 43-yard touchdown pass to Gibson, pushing the Rangers ahead by a 14-7 margin.
Both teams would come up empty-handed on their next possessions as the first quarter gave way to the second. For the Rangers, their drive ended less than two minutes into the second quarter, as Coahoma recovered a fumble in Northwest territory. While the Northwest defense did not yield a touchdown, Gonzalez did connect on a 25-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 14-10.
Northwest continued to flirt with danger on its next possession, as Ryan Kirkwood picked off Wilcke for the Rangers’ third turnover of the game. However, the Tigers failed to capitalize, eventually punting the ball away with 7:35 left in the first half.
While Northwest would once again fail to produce on its next drive, Hayden Wolfe’s punt was fumbled by Coahoma’s Isiah Smith, allowing Dre Riley to recover on the Tigers’ 12-yard line. It took just one play for the Rangers to score, as Perteet scored his second touchdown of the evening, pushing the score to 21-10.
After another empty-handed possession from Coahoma, Wilcke and the Rangers responded just four plays later. A pair of seven-yard rushes from Perteet were coupled with passes of 33 and 36 yards to Johnson, the latter resulting in the freshman’s first career touchdown. The score made it a 28-10 advantage for Northwest with 1:51 left in the second quarter.
Coahoma wasn’t done just yet though. With less than two minutes on the clock, Strother and the Tigers moved the ball 72 yards in 10 plays, setting up a 20-yard field goal from Gonzalez with four seconds left. The score helped Coahoma close the gap to 28-13 at halftime.
Northwest came out aggressive in the second half, marching 65 yards downfield in 10 plays to open the third quarter. However, the Rangers were unable to score on four plays inside the Tigers’ five-yard line, resulting in a turnover on downs.
With Coahoma unable to muster anything on its first offensive possession of the second half, Northwest took over from the Tigers’ 42-yard line. Again, the Rangers were unable to capitalize and an incomplete pass on fourth down resulted in the second consecutive turnover on downs.
Strother and the Tigers saw a chance to seize the momentum, but after three straight completions were followed by two incompletions and a sack, Coahoma was once again forced to settle for a field goal from 33 yards out. The attempt from Gonzalez resulted in his third successful field goal in four chances, closing the gap to 28-16 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
Facing third down and long on its next possession, the Rangers turned to freshman tailback Qua Middlebrooks, who caught a 20-yard pass from Wilcke to get a much-needed first down. From there, Northwest carried its drive into the fourth quarter, where Perteet scored from 17 yards out after three straight carries. Jackson Uselton would follow with his fifth successful extra-point kick of the evening, extending the lead to 35-16.
Neither offense could ignite much excitement over the rest of the fourth quarter, as Coahoma finished with two empty possessions and Northwest was stopped on fourth and short. With 7:18 left in regulation, the Rangers finally turned the keys over to Keyes, who carried the ball on eight straight attempts, running out the clock to secure the victory.
Northwest collected 383 yards of total offense in the victory, compared to 241 for Coahoma. The bulk of the Rangers’ yards came on the ground, with Perteet accounting for 138 of the team’s 224 rushing yards, while Northwest also aired out 159 passing yards.
Coahoma was limited to 83 yards in the rushing attack, but the Tigers did air out 158 yards from Strother and the passing game. The Coahoma quarterback finished 14-for-26 with a passing touchdown, while Wilcke completed seven of his 14 passes for two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
Davis accounted for 64 yards on three catches as the Tigers’ top target, while Immanuel Griffin rushed for just 34 yards to lead Coahoma’s backfield. However, one of the Tigers’ biggest obstacles came on third down conversions, where they finished 0-for-11. In comparison, Northwest converted five of its 10 third downs.
Aside from Dunn’s career-high tackles on defense, reigning MACCC Defensive Player of the Week Fredd Adams accounted for five tackles with two pass breakups. Riley also totaled four tackles and a fumble recovery.
Additionally, Jaylon Johnson had a quiet, but notable night for the Northwest defense, leading the team with three hurries. Tyeland Coleman and Chris Thomas also earned one hurry each, while Rase Jones finished with two tackles-for-loss.
Goodlow led the Coahoma defense with nine total tackles and an interception, followed by eight tackles from Byron Keys. Q.D. Walls and Marco Tyson followed with seven tackles each.
Uselton finished 5-for-5 in extra point kicks, while Wolfe only punted once for 46 yards. Meanwhile, Gonzalez had a busy evening for the Tigers, going 3-for-4 on field goals and punting the ball six times for 212 yards, while also accounting for 268 kickoff yards.
Johnson and JaBrysten Abram combined for all five of the Rangers’ kick returns, totaling 111 yards. Abram, a Senatobia native, racked up 50 yards on two returns, while Johnson finished with 61 yards on three returners.
Meanwhile, Coahoma had four total kickoff returns, with Deshaun Catron combining for 40 yards on his two returns.
Next up for Northwest will be a home contest against Northeast, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 26. The Tigers (1-2, 0-1 MACCC North) are coming off a 41-7 blowout loss to Holmes.
Kickoff is set for 7 P.M., with tickets available for purchase at nwccrangers.com/tickets.
