Hinds Community College stepped on the gas in the second half, but ran out of road before it could pass Northwest Mississippi.

D.T. Sheffield scored two touchdowns, and Ren Hefley threw two touchdown passes as No. 4 Northwest Mississippi beat Hinds 31-28.

Jamarien Bracy ran for 79 yards and a touchdown for the Rangers (2-0). Hefley was 20-of-32 passing for 274 yards.

Hinds wiped out most of a 24-0 halftime deficit, and scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but could not complete the comeback. Jeffrey Pittman ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns, while Michael Lott caught nine passes for 106 yards and one touchdown for the Eagles (0-2).

Lott’s 26-yard touchdown reception touchdown pulled the Eagles to within 31-28, but there was only 18 seconds remaining and Northwest fell on an onside kick to end Hinds’ hopes.

“One thing I told our coaches to do is to give our players some confidence in the second half,” Hinds head coach Larry Williams said. “We have the talent to win, but we just have to put together a complete performance.”
Hinds will go on the road for the first time next week, when it plays East Central on Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in Decatur.

Jones 42, East Mississippi 28
Robert Henry rushed for 219 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 9 Jones College (2-0) past No. 5 East Mississippi (1-1) in a showdown of nationally-ranked teams on Thursday.

Jones led 29-7 at halftime, but had to withstand a big comeback bid by the Lions. Amariyon Howard’s 3-yard touchdown run, his second of the second half, pulled East Mississippi to within 35-28 early in the fourth quarter.

Jones answered with a 55-yard touchdown pass from D.J. Smith to Ashton Nickelberry with 9:30 to go, however, and the Bobcats kept EMCC at bay down the stretch.

Former Vicksburg High standout Laurence Sullivan Jr. had eight tackles and an interception for East Mississippi.

Co-Lin 37, Mississippi Delta 7
DeVon Tott threw two touchdown passes, and Kyjuan Herndon ran for 92 yards and two TDs to lead Copiah-Lincoln (1-1) to an easy win against Mississippi Delta (0-2).

Johnnie Daniels finished with 111 total yards — 73 rushing and 28 receiving — and caught a 28-yard touchdown pass for Co-Lin. Tott was 20-of-38 passing for 217 yards.

On defense for the Wolves, Ja’Len Sims had 10 total tackles and two sackes. Nate White also had two sacks.
Raheem Fairley had eight receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown for Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Gulf Coast 37, Itawamba 13
Pat McQuade completed 26 of 31 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns as Mississippi Gulf Coast (1-1) made easy work of Itawamba Community College (0-2).

Xavier Evans scored two rushing touchdowns for Gulf Coast, which finished with 476 yards of total offense. The Bulldogs’ defense also had eight sacks.

Holmes 41, East Central 37
Philip Short threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Davis IV with 3:59 remaining to cap a wild game and help Holmes Community College (1-1) slide past East Central (0-2).

Former Warren Central star Brandon Gilliam kicked a 37-yard field goal with 7:15 remaining to put East Central ahead 37-34, but Holmes marched right back down the field to take the lead for good.

Holmes’ Reid Pulliam intercepted a pass at the 35-yard line with 46 seconds left to seal it.

Short completed 27 of 36 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Davis caught nine passes for 106 yards and two TDs. The teams combined for nearly 800 yards of offense, and only three punts.

East Central quarterback Landon Sims was 20-of-29 passing for 184 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for 88 yards on 15 carries.

Warren Central alum Preston Lynch caught a 13-yard touchdown pass for the Warriors. Gilliam converted four PATs in addition to his field goal.

Two other Warren Central products also had big games on defense for East Central. T.J. Thompson had eight tackles, including one tackle for loss, and Jaylin Thompson had six total tackles.

Pearl River 20, Northeast 13
Bryan Whitehead II scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 20-yard fumble return with 2:23 remaining to give Pearl River Community College (2-0) a hard-fought victory over Northeast Mississippi (1-1).

Whitehead finished with three sacks, and his last two were two of the biggest plays in the game. He got to Northeast quarterback Carter Putt, stripped the ball and recovered it, then took it 20 yards to the end zone to put Pearl River ahead 20-13.

On Northeast’s final series, Whitehead got another sack as the Tigers turned it over on downs inside their own territory.

Pearl River held Northeast to 184 yards of total offense, while gaining just 254 itself. Former Vicksburg High standout Michael Montgomery had two tackles, including one for loss, for Pearl River.

Guy Gillespie kicked two field goals for Northeast Mississippi.

Coahoma 28, Southwest Mississippi 15
Jaden Johnson threw two touchdown passes, and Marquis Willis caught two as Coahoma Community College (2-0) knocked off Southwest Mississippi (1-1).

Willis finished with five receptions for 94 yards. Coahoma quarterback Mekhi Norris ran for 89 yards and threw a touchdown pass as well.

Coahoma’s defense allowed just 255 yards and recorded five takeaways.