East Central Community College's Antonio Gibson fights for yardage against a pair of Northwest Mississippi Community College defenders Saturday afternoon in Decatu

DECATUR — Northwest Mississippi Community College put on a defensive clinic Saturday afternoon.

Behind a stellar second-half defense and a heavy rushing attack, the Rangers held off East Central Community College 21-14 in the semifinals of the MACJC playoffs Saturday afternoon at Bailey Stadium.

The Rangers (9-1), ranked No. 4 in the country, will face third-ranked East Mississippi for the MACJC state championship at 2 p.m. next Saturday in Scooba.

Northwest, the defending MACJC state champs and NJCAA national champs, lost to East Mississippi 51-32 back on Oct. 15.

Northwest held East Central to 195 yards of total offense and limited the Warriors to just 8 yards of total offense in the second half while hauling in two interceptions.

“East Central is a heck of a ball team, and they jumped out ahead, and we came in at halftime and settled down really,” first year Northwest CC coach Benjy Parker said. “Our guys didn’t bat an eye, and the talk at halftime was playing four quarters.”

What also helped was a balanced running game. The Rangers gathered up 220 yards of offense rushing. 

Quarderman Sloan had 137 yards rushing on 24 carries to lead the rushing attack. South Alabama commit Tywun Walters added 88 yards rushing and scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to cut the East Central lead to 14-12 with 1:05 left in the third quarter.

“Tywun is a workhorse and wants the ball and is a team player. That is the type of kid you want,” Parker said. “That’s really the type of football team we are. We want to run the ball, control the line of scrimmage and take time off the clock.”

Quarterback Clay Holgorsen went 24 of 33 passing for 222 yards with a touchdown for Northwest.

Dom Marino led East Central (5-5) offensively, rushing for 109 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown and passed for 63 yards and a score.

“It was a tale of two halves; we played well in the first, and they did in the second, bottom line,” East Central coach Ken Karcher said. “Their defense is a good defense, and they blitzed every play, and we couldn’t manage to find a rhythm.”