By Clayton Jackson
Brandon took nearly two quarters to get its offense rolling Friday night against Rankin County rival Northwest Rankin, but once the Bulldogs scored, the flood gates were opened.
Brandon overcame a 14-point deficit in the first half and scored 34 unanswered points to defeat Northwest Rankin 34-14 in a MHSAA Class 7A, Region 3 opener for both teams before an estimated 7,500 at Brandon’s Bulldog Stadium.
Brandon – ranked No. 5 in the MHSAA Class 7A and No. 5 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – won their fifth straight game and improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in region play. The Bulldogs haven’t lost since an opening season defeat at Tupelo, which is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in Mississippi and No. 88 in the country by MaxPreps.
Northwest Rankin – ranked No. 13 in MHSAA Class 7A and No. 23 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in region play. It was the Cougars’ second consecutive loss. They lost 41-28 to MHSAA Class 5A Brookhaven two weeks ago at Northwest Rankin.
The Brandon victory was the ninth straight and 14th win in the 15 meetings. The Bulldogs lead the series 33-10 with the first game in 1982 one year after Northwest Rankin opened. Northwest Rankin’s only win over the past 15 years was a 28-14 decision at Northwest Rankin.
Brandon senior running back and Michigan commitment Tyson Robinson ignited the comeback with touchdown runs of 7 and 20 yards in the final three minutes of the second quarter. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Robinson – rated the No. 10 player in Mississippi and the No. 20 running back in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports – would add one more score late in the fourth quarter. He finished with 83 yards on 11 carries and three TDs. Robinson now has 654 rushing yards and six TDs and has caught 11 passes for 151 yards and one TD this season.
Brandon senior quarterback and Illinois commitment Sladen Shack kept the Bulldogs rolling in the third quarter. The 6-1, 190-pound Shack delivered a 45-yard strike to junior wide receiver Josh Parker for the go-ahead score with 9 minutes, 29 seconds to play in the third quarter for a 21-14 lead. Two minutes later, Shack went back to Parker for a 20-yard TD pass and a 28-14 lead. Parker – rated No. 4 player in Mississippi and No. 20 wide receiver in the country in the Class of 2028 – finished with eight catches for 130 yards and two TDs.
Shack has now passed for 1,096 yards and seven TDs and Parker has caught 34 passes for 625 yards and six TDs this season.
Sophomore Dawson Lewis and junior Xavier Dotson ran for one TD each to give Northwest Rankin a 14-0 lead in the first half and the Cougars held that lead until three minutes to go before halftime.
It was the first region win for Eugene Clinton since he was named permanent head coach after last season. Clinton was promoted to interim head coach midway through last season when Lance Pogue resigned. Clinton – a former defensive back at Provine and Mississippi State – was an assistant coach at Provine for eight years and then at Brandon for 10 years before taking over last year.
“We didn’t play the way we were supposed to, but you know what, we overcame,” said Clinton after the game in an interview with Chris Ebelhar with the Brandon Bulldog network. “We went in, readjusted, came back out and decided something wasn’t working, so we fixed it and came back out and shut them out.”
“We knew they couldn’t stop the run game and we had a bunch of mental mistakes,” Robinson said. “So once we shut down all the noise, the game was over with, and we just pushed through adversity and came out on top.”
Shack showed his senior level poise in the second half as he opened up the offense to break the game open.
“We started off slow for sure but there was no doubt in my mind we would get those two touchdowns back, and after it was 14-14 it was wraps,” Shack said. “Our offense started rolling and that’s what we needed.”
Brandon held Northwest Rankin scoreless and limited the Cougars to 88 total yards and only four first downs in the second half.
After the decisive victory, junior linebacker Travion Washington had a warning for the rest of the state.
“Everyone has been doubting us ever since that first game,” Washington said. “This season, we’re going to show the entire 7A that we are the best.”
Northwest Rankin had a different starting quarterback Friday night. Senior Jett White got the call to start the rivalry game after he played well in the second half of the loss last week to Brookhaven, replacing senior Gavin Phillipson. He led a comeback bid that fell short because the Brookhaven offense was too potent, but he got a Cougar offense going after it had been stagnant most of that night. Against Brandon, White completed 24 passes on 41 attempts for 189 yards and one interception.
“Jett is a senior quarterback that has worked hard to prep himself for this moment,” Northwest Rankin coach Devin Cooper said. “We felt like he deserved it and has earned a shot to lead our offense in this game. He handled it very well versus a strong Brandon defense.”
The Cougars have had an up and down season and this would have been a big win to begin region play but they could not get it done after a hot start.
“We got off to a solid start in the first half,” Cooper said. “We produced 14 points and had two missed field goals in the first half which showed the strength of our offense when we play to our potential. Brandon made a few big plays with Parker down the field on top of a running game with Robinson and (senior running back Kingston) Mays, which is very difficult to defend. Our boys will get back to work through the off week by working on ourselves and begin prepping for another big district game vs. Pearl.”
Both teams have an open date next week before Brandon plays at Petal and Northwest Rankin plays host to Pearl, both on Oct. 16.
