September 24, 2009

TIGERS TAME THE BULLDOGS IN BOONEVILLE

BOONEVILLE, Miss. – Northeast clawed its way to victory over the Bulldogs at Keenum Stadium Thursday night on a field that looked more like a mud pit than a gridiron.

With the rain falling and the mud flapping…..Northeast still managed to pull off the 25-10 win over Holmes Community College (1-4, 1-2) to improve its record to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the North Division.

Freshman safety LaDarrius Madden from Leighton, Ala., stole the show for the Tigers, snatching three interceptions on the night and returning one of those picks for a 35-yard touchdown return.

“Our defense played great as a unit,” said Madden.  “If it wasn’t for the defensive line getting so much pressure on the quarterback, I wouldn’t have had those interceptions.”

In the first quarter, the Tigers took a 3-0 lead after Tyler Turner (Horn Lake) nailed a 21-yard field goal.

The Tigers defense then forced two turnovers in the opening period, one by Madden on an interception, and the other on a fumble recovery by freshman corner back Joseph Johnson from Southaven.

With the defense putting the clamps down and forcing turnovers, quarterback Clint Wilson (Olive Branch) and the offense made the most of their time on the field scoring on a 24-yard touchdown throw from Wilson to receiver Dominique King (Tuscumbia, Ala.) with 13:24 left in the second quarter to go up 9-0.

Freshman quarterback Bo Chapman (Gordo, Ala.) orchestrated the next scoring drive for Northeast, putting Turner in position to hit the 24-yard FG that increased their lead to 12-0 at the half.

Madden cushioned that 12-point lead at the 9:35 mark in the third quarter after his electrifying 35-yard interception scamper to the end zone for six points.  However, Turner’s PAT attempt was blocked by Holmes and scooped up by DB DeAnthony Wilkerson (Madison Central) who raced 85-yards to pay dirt giving the Bulldogs two-points on a score of 18-2.

Holmes was able to get on the scoreboard once again at the end of the third quarter when running back Don Smith (Madison Central) found the end zone on a 2-yard run.  The two-point conversion was successful and the Bulldogs cut the lead to 18-10.

But, in the fourth period, the Tiger offense sealed the deal after another freshman quarterback Terrance Jones from Vardamen, completed the Northeast drive with an 8-yard touchdown run of his on to make it 25-10 after the Turner PAT.

“It felt good….it felt real good to finally get some action in my first collegiate game,” explained Jones.  “My offensive line did a great job blocking and I just ran for the end zone.”

Head Coach Ricky Smither picked up his second career on-the-field win in the victory against Holmes Thursday night.

“This team played a great game on a sloppy track and I owe these guys all the credit in the world”, said Smither. “Last week was a hard loss to swallow but I knew this group would come out here and play hard and execute here tonight and they did and now we got to keep moving forward from here.”

The Tigers will hope to take its momentum on the road when they travel to Decatur to face-off against the East Central Community College Warriors on Saturday, October 3.

Kick-off is set for 2:30 p.m.

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