Northeast Finds A Way To WIn over the Trojans, 24-7

By Mark H. Stowers

There wasn't a David versus Goliath matchup for the Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans on Thursday night. But it was the undefeated Northeast Mississippi Community College Tigers (3-0, 1-0 MACCC North). More evenly matched, the Trojans (0-3, 0-1 MACCC North) more than held their own in another tough MACCC Thursday night matchup but the end result was the same - a 24-7 loss for the Trojans. Now 0-3 on the 2025 season, the Trojans had more success than failures in the contest. 

The teams traded punts to begin the game but the second Trojan drive ended after five plays when a fumble gave the Tigers possession at the Trojan 28-yard line. Northeast took advantage of the generous field position and four plays later, Tiger quarterback Jeremiah Harrell ran it in from one yard out to put the Tigers up 7-0 after the PAT. 

The Trojans then began a seven-play drive that fizzled at the Tiger 45 but a running into the kicker penalty on Ceidrick Hunt's punt gave the Trojans new life at the Tiger 40. From there, Trojan quarterback Caden Clark directed a four-play drive that resulted in Clark punching it in from the four-yard line. Hunt's PAT tied the game at 7-7 with 3:34 left in the first. 

Taking the kickoff, Northeast ran seven plays that finished the quarter and moved them to their own 46. Then five plays later, the drive was stonewalled by the Trojan defense with a Mincer Minor IV interception in the end zone. The Trojans couldn't move the ball and punted it back four plays later. Northeast would then put up another scoring drive that began at the MDCC 49 yard line and on the ninth play, a fourth and goal at the two-yard line, Harrell would again run it in for the touchdown and the PAT made it a 14-7, Northeast lead over the Trojans with 7:27 left in the first half.

A short kickoff return of only six yards gave the Trojans a possession at their own nine-yard line. Clark then directed another drive of 12 plays but could only muster 35 yards. The drive took the clock down to 1:39 left in the second quarter. The Tigers couldn't do much and punted back with :52 on the first half clock. The Trojans started at their own 22-yard line and ran out the clock.

The Tigers took the second-half kickoff but punted back to the Trojans after only five plays and 17 yards of offense. The Tigers stymied the Trojans after three plays, and Hunt was called onto punt, but was again hit, and the Tigers were called for a roughing the kicker, 15-yard penalty, giving the Trojans new life at their own 36-yard line. Working it over midfield to the Tiger 35, the drive stalled and a delay of game penalty pushed them back to the 42 for another Hunt punt that was caught at the eight-yard line and a holding penalty on the Tigers pushed them back to the four-yard line to start their drive.

But the Tigers marched down the field, 86 yards in 13 plays to the MDCC 10-yard line, where they were forced to kick a field goal and extend their lead to 17-7 with 2:22 left in the third quarter. The teams then punted away their next two possessions before Northeast put together another scoring drive, capped by a 60-yard run by Caden Greer, the third play of the drive. With the PAT, the Tigers ended the scoring for the night at 24-7 with 4:34 left in the game. 

There was some excitement for the Trojans on their final drive that faltered at the Northeast 38 yard line. Trojan kicker, Hunt lined up for a 54-yard field goal that had plenty of leg but was off the mark and caught in the end zone for a touchback for the Tigers who then ran the clock out.

Statistically, the Trojans picked up 18 first downs - eight passing, seven rushing and three by penalty. The Tigers had 23 first downs - 9, 13 and 1. The Trojans had 205 yards of total offense - 142 passing and 63 rushing. The Tigers put up 392 yards, consisting of 172 passing and 220 rushing. Hunt had seven punts on the night for 272 yards and a 39 yard average. His longest was 53 yards. The Tigers punted five times in the game. 

Evan Schippers was 12-for-18 passing for the Trojans for 84 yards. Caden Clark was 9-for-14 for 58 yards before an injury ended his night. Chance Ross led the Trojans in rushing with 46 yards on 15 carries. Clark had four runs for 29 yards. Monclair Brave led the Trojan receivers with seven catches for 50 yards. Jarrett Jasper had four for 25 yards. 

Defensively, Jaquian Payton had nine total tackles for the Trojans followed by Jermaine McRoy with eight and Lacoyrius Branch with seven.

The Tigers were led by quarterback Jeremiah Harrell who was 16-for-31 passing for 171 yards, no TDs and one interception. Qua Middlebrooks led the Tigers in rushing with 15 carries for 97 yards. Quarterbacks Harrell and Caden Greer each had rushing touchowns - Harrell with two and Greer with one. Greer also had 61 yards rushing on three carries, while Harrell had nine carries for 31 yards. 

Next up for the Trojans will be a road trip to Hinds Community College (2-1, 1-0 MACCC South) on Thursday, September 18 with a 6:30 p.m. Kickoff. Northeast travels to Holmes (1-2, 1-0 MACCC North) next week as well.