RAYMOMD — Hinds Community College had four touchdowns called back because of penalties Thursday night, but still pulled away from Northeast for a season-opening 23-12 victory.

Freshman quarterback Wesley Mounger, a former Vicksburg Post All-Area product in 2006 and the area’s third leading passer last year at Clinton High School, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to pace the Eagles at Renfroe Stadium.

“Wesley’s definitely a playmaker,” Hinds coach J. Mike Smith said. “I thought we played a really good first half and then our intensity went down in the second half. We made some stupid mistakes.”

Four illegal blocks cost the Eagles four scores. The first came on the opening kickoff when Tay Olgetree ran 90 yards for a score only for it to be wiped out by a block in the back. Linebacker Paul Mallard had an 87-yard fumble return for a touchdown called back for an illegal block. A 70-yard TD pass from Mounger to former Vicksburg High standout Vernon Wolfe was also called back for another blocking penalty. And in the fourth quarter, Moungers’ 47-yard TD run was wiped out on a holding call.

For the scores that counted, those began in the first quarter when Northeast fumbled a snap into its own end zone, resulting in a safety and a 2-0 Hinds lead.

Mounger then found an instant comfort zone with Wolfe, hooking up three times in a second-quarter drive capped by a 20-yard scoring strike. Wolfe, who had an 11- and 20-yard catch earlier in the march, made a great stutter move to shake off a Tiger defender and coast in for the score. Parker Ware’s kick made it 9-0 with 11 minutes, 53 seconds left in the second quarter.

With less than two minutes left in the first half, Mounger completed five straight passes for 58 yards to finish off a 78-yard drive. The score came on an 11-yard toss to Cole Michael with 54 seconds to left to make it 16-0 after Ware’s kick.

Northeast got on the board on its first drive of the third quarter when Emanuel Francis hit Dominique King on a 12-yard TD pass. The pass for two points failed, leaving the score at 16-6 with 10:41 left in the quarter.

The second of two fumbled punts by the Eagles set up a 24-yard TD pass from Francis to Mario Nash with 9:46 remaining. The kick failed to keep the score at 16-12.

Mounger answered with a 1-yard TD run that was set up after first down runs by Anton Taylor, Mounger and Steven Knight. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Taylor was probably lost for the season after breaking his ankle on a four-yard carry during the drive.

Still, Eagle fans should be excited about Mounger.

“It’s somewhat like we ran at Clinton, we just want to spread the field,” said Mounger, who finished 17-of-25 for 184 yards passing. He added another 82 rushing on 11 carries. Wolfe caught six passes for 76 yards and one score.