By Robert Wilson
Photos by Robert Smith
Brandon coach Sam Williams wanted to continue the momentum with another victory and play a lot of young players Thursday night in the final regular season game against Rankin County rival Northwest Rankin going into next week’s MHSAA Class 7A state playoffs.
Check and check.
Brandon defeated Northwest Rankin 27-10 behind solid defensive effort by the Bulldogs to finish Class 7A, Region 3 play undefeated before an estimated 6,000 fans on Northwest Rankin’s Senior Night at Cougar Stadium in Flowood.
Brandon won its eighth straight game to improve to 8-2 overall and 5-0 in region play and won the region for the third straight year. The Bulldogs have a 18-1 record in region play – their only loss was a 25-20 loss at Oak Grove last season – in the past three years under Williams. Brandon plays host to 6-4 Harrison Central, the No. 4 team from Region 4, next Friday in the first round of the playoffs. If Brandon continues to win, it will host every playoff game until the championship game, which is at Ole Miss in Oxford.
Northwest Rankin dropped to 5-5 overall and 1-4 in region play and missed the playoffs because Pearl defeated Meridian 21-0 Thursday to put Pearl as the No. 3 seed and Meridian as No. 4 seed. Oak Grove is No. 2. The Cougars got off to a great start this season and won five of its first six games, but lost the last four games, all region games.
Led by senior defensive lineman Jaeden Calender – who came into the game tied for 19th in the country with 157 tackles, according to MaxPreps – Brandon’s defense was solid and didn’t let Northwest Rankin into the end zone until 5 minutes to play in the game.
Northwest Rankin finished with 219 total yards, 187 rushing and 57 passing. Northwest Rankin completed only 37.5 percent of its passes (12 of 32).
“I was really proud of our kids and the way that they finished the game,” said Williams, who has a 31-7 record and two state runner-up finishes in his third year at Brandon. “Northwest Rankin (Williams’ alma mater) is a very well coached team who plays super hard whistle to whistle. I was happy to get some new faces mixed in with some of our veterans last night without seeing much drop off in play. We played more than 50 players, a lot of sophomores and three freshmen. Our defense was very good, as they have been for many games this year. They play super hard and play for each other.”
Brandon took a 6-0 lead on two Connor Mullins field goals of 22 and 39 yards before Northwest Rankin’s Daniel Sherman made a 32-yard field to cut the lead in half. Brandon senior quarterback Landon Varnes completed a 60-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Jay McQueen for a touchdown to push the Brandon lead to 13-3 with 52 seconds to play before halftime.
Brandon senior running back and Louisiana Monroe commitment Nate Blount (who finished with 107 yards) ran for a 13-yard TD for a 20-3 lead with 6:13 to play in the third quarter. Blount now has 1,232 yards and 19 TDs this season.
Northwest Rankin closed the gap to 20-10 when senior quarterback Wes White completed a 12-yard TD pass to freshman wide receiver Deshawn Dillion with 4:56 to play in the fourth quarter. White finished with 1,665 yards and 15 TDs this season.
Varnes completed a 6-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Quincy Phillips with 1:01 to play for the final margin.
Varnes completed 21 of 36 passes for 276 yards. McQueen caught four passes for 120 yards. Phillips caught 10 for 102 yards. Varnes has now thrown for 2,009 yards and 20 TDs with only 5 interceptions this season.
Northwest Rankin senior running back Dylan Lewis had 122 yards on 27 carries Thursday and finished the season with 999 yards and 14 TDs.
Third-year Northwest Rankin coach Devin Cooper praised his team for their never quit attitude this season and his senior class, which includes 24 players and nine starters, six on offense and three on defense.
“I am proud of the fight our team has shown this season,” said Cooper, who won a state championship at Scott Central as a head coach and a state title as an assistant at Clinton prior to coming to Northwest Rankin. “This senior class led our team through some really big wins this year. All of our seniors did a great job of playing their role. This year’s team has helped put our program in a great position moving forward.
“Brandon has a great football team, and they are playing well at the right time of the year. We had success moving the ball but couldn’t get in the end zone enough. (Brandon coach) Sam (Williams) is a good friend. He has done a great job and has his guys motivated. They will be tough for anyone to handle.”
