SENATOBIA — In the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges, one is greater than two.
Deon McIntosh ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns, Dontario Drummond caught nine passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, and No. 1 East Mississippi routed No. 2 Northwest Mississippi 34-6 Thursday night in a matchup of the country’s top-ranked teams.

East Mississippi (6-0, 3-0 MACJC North) and Northwest Mississippi (5-1, 2-1) have combined to win the last five MACJC state championships, and five of the last seven NJCAA national titles. This was the eighth time since 2011 that the Lions and Rangers played each other when both were ranked in the top 10 of the national poll, but only EMCC looked that way on Thursday night.

The Lions jumped out to a 13-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by McIntosh early in the first quarter, and a recovery of a blocked punt in the end zone by Braden Boykin on the next series.
Northwest got on the board with Braden Smith’s 46-yard punt return TD with 3:19 left in the first, but it was all East Mississippi from there.

McIntosh scored on a 9-yard run early in the second quarter to put the Lions ahead 20-6 at halftime. Drummond caught a 15-yard TD pass from Messiah deWeaver midway through the third quarter, and JaQuez Akins returned an interception for a score in the fourth to make it 34-6.

East Mississippi held the Rangers to nine first downs and 98 yards of total offense. The Lions had 10 sacks and forced four turnovers as well.

Jones 48, Pearl River 7

Stetson Bennett completed 12 of 19 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns, and added another score on the ground as Jones County Junior College (5-1, 4-0 MACJC South) mauled Pearl River (0-6, 0-4) in the 88th annual “Catfight” rivalry game.

Kalyn Grandberry rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns for Jones, and also caught four passes for 66 yards and a TD.

Jones held Pearl River to 122 yards of total offense, including two yards in the second half. Jones had 12 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Linebacker Nick Anderson, a former Vicksburg High star, led the Jones defense with 5 1/2 tackles and a sack.

Itawamba 37, Holmes 34

Clark Mills threw three touchdown passes as Itawamba Community College (4-2, 3-1 MACJC North) outlasted Holmes Community College (3-3, 1-2).

Former Warren Central star Jesse Wilson threw a touchdown pass for Holmes, which gained 344 of its 571 total yards on the ground. Dylan Kelly had a 99-yard touchdown run for the Bulldogs, and also caught a 69-yard touchdown pass.

Holmes quarterback Reggie Hayes threw three TD passes.

Co-Lin 42, East Central 17

East Central Community College finally played in a lopsided game. It was not what it had in mind.
Hayden Davis threw for 190 yards and three touchdowns — two to Kundarrius Taylor — Deion Dampier ran for 179 yards and two TDs, and Copiah-Lincoln (4-2, 3-0 MACJC South) overcame an early 14-0 deficit to rout East Central (3-3, 2-1).

It was the first game East Central has played this season that was decided by more than seven points.

Mississippi Delta 41, Northeast Mississippi 11

Tyrique McAfee threw a touchdown pass and ran for a another TD to lead Mississippi Delta to an easy win over Northeast Mississippi (1-5, 1-3 MACJC North).

Gulf Coast 56, Southwest Mississippi 7

Chance Loveritch threw six touchdown passes to lead Mississippi Gulf Coast (4-2, 1-2 MACJC South) to a rout of Southwest Mississippi (1-5, 0-4).

In the second quarter, Loveritch threw TD passes of four yards to Denzel Carter, 61 to Mystikal McGhee, and 15 to Nick Brown to give the Bulldogs a 28-7 halftime lead.

Brown caught two more touchdown passes from Loveritch in the third quarter, and Perry Keyes finished the big night by hauling in a 25-yarder.

Loveritch finished the game 26-of-31 passing for 394 yards. Brown caught four passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns.