SENATOBIA — Northwest Mississippi Community College forced a slew of turnovers and Hinds Community College right out of the state playoffs on Saturday.

The Rangers picked off three passes and recovered a fumble, and beat Hinds 27-13 in the first round of the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges football playoffs.

Turner Rotenberry had 10 tackles and two interceptions for Northwest Mississippi (8-1), which advanced to play East Mississippi in next week’s state championship game.

East Mississippi beat Jones County 24-20 in the other semifinal on Saturday.
Former Warren Central star Chris Stamps had three tackles for Northwest. It was Rotenberry, however, who set the tone all day.

He returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the game to stake Northwest Mississippi to a a 7-0 lead just 45 seconds in. He then forced a fumble on Hinds’ next possession, although the Eagles were able to recover, and made another interception with 17 seconds left in the first half.

Hinds (6-3) still managed to gain 322 yards of offense in the game — Northwest had 380 — but the Rangers did a bit more with their opportunities.

Kevin Perkins rushed for 72 yards and a pair of 1-yard touchdowns. Perkins’ first score came with 1:09 left in the first half and gave the Rangers a 13-0 lead. His second was early in the fourth quarter and made it 27-6.

Jack Abraham threw a 14-yard pass to Jerrick Orr for Northwest’s other touchdown. Abraham finished 16-of-27 passing for 255 yards.

Spencer Cole kicked two field goals for Hinds, and D.J. Sims scored on a 2-yard run with 8:46 left in the game for the team’s only touchdown. The Eagles got the ball twice more after Sims’ touchdown cut it to 27-13, but did not pick up a first down on either possession.

Former St. Aloysius star DeMichael Harris caught two passes for 42 yards for Hinds, and former Warren Central standout Demarcus Jones had one reception for 27 yards for Northwest Mississippi.