October 14, 2009

NORTHEAST FOOTBALL CONTINUES PUSH TO PLAYOFFS

BOONEVILLE, Miss. – Northeast Mississippi Community College’s football team continues its push toward the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) playoffs Thursday night.

Northeast remains tied with Coahoma and Northwest for the second spot in the North Division. East Mississippi locked up the North Division crown with its 48-10 win over Northeast last Saturday.

For Northeast to make it to the playoffs, the Tigers have to knock off both Coahoma and Northwest in back-to-back weeks.

Northeast’s push will start on Thursday night as the Tigers welcome Coahoma to Keenum Stadium in Booneville for Homecoming 2009 before traveling to Senatobia the final week of the season to face Northwest. Coahoma comes into Thursday’s contest on the heels of a 41-36 victory over Northwest last week.

Coahoma enters Thursday’s matchup with the edge on the homestanding Tigers in total offense and defense. Coahoma averages 384.7 yards a game while holding opponents to just 311.1 markers. Northeast checks in two spots lower in the standings with 315.7 yards per game on offense while giving up just over 324 yards per game.

Jeremy Cannon (New Albany), the state’s second leading rusher, will lead the Northeast offense against the visiting Tigers. Cannon remains in the second place spot in the state with 125.6 yards per game and is 121 yards short of the 1,000-yard plateau for the season.

Coahoma quarterback Garrick Jones (Whitehaven, Tenn.) directs a balanced offense for the Tigers. Jones comes into Thursday’s contest averaging 211.1 yards through the air while the Tiger offense checks in with 158.7 yards rushing. Katrel James (Atmore, Ala.) leads Coahoma in rushing with 56.3 yards per game in six games this year and 338 yards on the season.

Quarterback Clint Wilson (Olive Branch) leads the homestanding Tigers to a 136.3 passing average while Cannon’s 125.6 yards on the ground carries Northeast to a 179.4 rushing average on the year.

Special teams and defense has been where Coahoma has stayed close in games this year – Courtney Vaughn (Rosa Fort) leads the state in kickoff returns – returning 10 kicks for 329 yards and defensively, Christopher Tucker (Rosedale) and Jerrod Jefferson (Atmore, Ala.) lead the team with a combined 17 sacks on the season. Tucker has nine quarterback takedowns in seven games while Jefferson is just one behind at eight.

Northeast answers with the trio of Jermaine Johnson (Thomasville, Ga.), Adam Funk (Tupelo) and LaDarrius Madden (Leighton, Ala.) who have combined for 149 stops on the year – 97 solo tackles. Madden also tops the Northeast secondary with four picks for 143 yards and two scores.

Northeast leads the all-time series 26-7 since the two teams started playing in 1976 and have captured four straight against the visiting Tigers in Keenum Stadium dating back to 1999.

As with all of Northeast’s football games, Northeast’s game will be broadcast on The Shark 102.3 FM and is also available as a live stream on the NEMCC athletic webpage or at http://www.classicradiofm.com/

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