Northeast
looks to 'blackout' ICC in rivalry game
Northeast
Sports Information
Northeast Mississippi
Community College battles its closest rival on Thursday, Sept. 8
at Keenum Stadium in Booneville.
Northeast (0-2)
entertains Itawamba Community College (1-1) in the Mississippi Association
of Community/Junior Colleges’ (MACJC) North Division opener
for both schools.
Only 50 miles
separate the two schools, which both opened in 1948, and have a
football series dating back to 1949 when a Woody Johnson led Tiger
squad knocked off Itawamba in the first meeting 41-0.
Northeast will
be looking for its first win in 12 games – dating back to
a 36-6 thumping of Coahoma in 2007 – while Itawamba is coming
off an embarrassing 63-9 setback to the nation’s second ranked
team Mississippi Gulf Coast last week.
Northeast took
the nation’s eleventh-ranked team to the brink last Thursday
(Sept. 3) in a game that featured the state’s top two defenses.
But the offenses
took over in the Poplarville match-up with Northeast and Pearl River
combining for 936 yards of total offense and 65 points.
After a scare
in the second quarter (21-20), Pearl River expanded its lead in
the second half and handed Northeast its second loss of the season
42-23.
Northeast freshman
quarterback Clint Wilson (Olive Branch) found Dominique King (Tuscumbia,
Ala.) on a 27-yard scoring strike with 8:40 left in the first half
cutting the Wildcats lead to 21-20 but special teams let the Tigers
down again as NE failed to convert on the extra point try and tie
the contest at 21-all.
Pearl River
(2-0) took advantage of the momentum from the missed kick and put
the Tigers at an eight-point disadvantage at half when Rashod Henry
found paydirt from three yards out with 46 seconds left in the second
quarter.
In the second
half, the Tigers mustered just three points after posting 20 points
and over 250 yards of total offense in the first two quarters. Northeast
cut the lead to five when Turner booted home a 29-yard field goal
on the Tigers opening drive of the final half capping an 11-play,
38-yard drive for the Tigers.
Northeast enters
its match up with ICC with the state’s third best running
back on the roster. Jeremy Cannon (New Albany) has racked up 286
yards on the ground during the Tigers’ two games this year
and averages 8.2 yards a carry on just 35 totes going into Thursday’s
matchup.
Northeast’s
running game will pair up against the ICC aerial attack led by University
of Southern Mississippi transfer Bret Jefcoat. Jefcoat is tied for
second in the state with a passing efficiency of 167.9 while completing
27-of-48 attempts for 481 yards and four scores during the Indians
two games thus far.
Jefcoat will
look to connect with his two favorite targets when ICC takes to
the air. Demarcus Watts and Ty Ferrell have hauled in 18 of Jefcoat’s
27 completions on the year for just over 300 yards. Watts comes
into Thursday night’s matchup averaging 109.5 yards per game
on just eight catches while Ferrell has been Jefcoat’s favorite
target with 10 catches on the year.
Northeast’s
Student Government Association is asking all Northeast fans to come
to the game dressed in Black and Gold as a way of ‘Blacking
out ICC’ on Thursday. The blackout theme comes from last year’s
game at ICC that was delayed for 31 minutes after a power failure.
The Northeast-ICC
rivalry has been close the last three years with only 15 points
separating the two teams. ICC has taken all three contests by a
29-24 count in 2006, 20-13 in 2007 and a 12-9 in last year’s
matchup. Northeast’s last win in the series came in 2005 when
the Tigers slaughtered the Indians in front of a home crowd 41-0.
Northeast’s
kickoff will be back at its regular time of 7 p.m. after starting
30 minutes earlier than normal in Poplarville. The 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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