Northwest Rankin hands rival Pearl first loss in 21-13 slugfest

The eighth-ranked Cougars got four turnovers and didn't allow a second-half touchdown

PEARL — The Northwest Rankin Cougars had a second shot at a Top-10 opponent in Thursday night’s All-Rankin County showdown on the road against the Pearl Pirates.

This time, they didn’t miss.

The Cougars’ defense got four turnovers, including a game-ending strip sack by Daniel Watkins that sealed a physical, 21-13 win over their cross-town rivals at Ray Rogers Stadium.

The Cougars moved to 5-1 and, more importantly, 1-0 in the MHSAA’s Region 7-3A, where four of the 10 teams in the SB Live Power 10 rankings reside.

“To go 1-0 in this district is a big deal,” Northwest Rankin coach Devin Cooper said. “I try to tell the guys, it’s not about who we play. It’s about us and what we’re doing to get better and reach our potential.”

The Cougars certainly took a step in the right direction Thursday, but not before being seriously tested by the seventh-ranked Pirates (5-1, 0-1 in 3-7A).

Pearl quarterback Jack Durr, as he has so many times in this breakout sophomore season, took the Pirates right down the field on the first possession. Durr hit Marquell Lake for a 63-yard pass, then finished the 91-yard drive himself, scrambling to cover the final 13 on the ground.

The Cougars responded on the first play of the second quarter on a 42-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Wes White to sophomore Noah Williams. White was 4-for-4 on the drive, and connected with Williams four times for 69 yards.

The Cougars took a 14-7 lead right before the half on a one-yard dive from senior Dylan Lewis on a 4th-and-goal play.

Northwest Rankin leads Pearl 14-7 at the half after this go-ahead TD run by Dylan Lewis pic.twitter.com/hYSQk0pYln

— Tyler Cleveland (@TylerCleveland) October 6, 2023

Like all 51 of the yards Lewis gained on the ground, it was a tough sledding.

“It’s good to be 1-0 in district,” Lewis said. “Pearl is pretty physical. They are a good team. We just had to establish the run down there in the red zone.”

MORE: Northwest Rankin Cougars 2023 football schedule

Determined to tie it up in the third quarter, the Pirates drove deep into Cougar territory on each of their first three second-half possessions. But Northwest Rankin corner Mickell Smith picked off Durr in the end zone on the first, and the Cougars forced the Pirates to settle for Colston Bennett field goals of 37 and 26 yards on the other two.

Nursing a slim 14-13 lead, the Cougars put together an 11-play, 67 yard touchdown drive on their first possession of the fourth quarter, scoring on a three-yard run from Lewis to go ahead 21-14 with 2:24 left.

Pearl took over the ensuing kickoff at their own 28-yard line and tried to mount a game-tying drive. Durr found Shaden McCollum for a 26-yard pass, but paid the price with a big hit that cost the Cougars 15 yards and set Pearl up at the Northwest 21-yard line with 11 seconds left.

That’s when Watkins, the senior linebacker, came around the corner from Durr’s blind side and jarred the ball loose. NWR senior Braylon Brown fell on the ball to seal it.

“They kind of handled us up front,” Cooper said. “As long as they were in running situations, we were really in trouble. But we found some ways to get them into some passing situations at key times. Our secondary guys were able to make some plays and we finally got some pressure there at the end."

Northwest Rankin coach Devin Cooper talks to his team following the Cougars' 21-13 win over the Pearl Pirates on Thursday, Oct. 5 at Ray Rogers Stadium in Pearl, Miss / Photo by Tyler Cleveland, SBLive

Pearl’s first loss of the season had some extra sting for Pirate head coach Justin Hunter, who lost bragging rights to his brother-in-law — Cooper — for another year.

“We like to hang our hat on taking care of the ball on offense and tackling on defense,” Hunter said. “We just didn’t do either one of those well tonight. We played hard, we just didn’t execute and you have to give credit to them. They were better than us tonight.”

The Pirates return to action next Friday night on the road against the Petal Panthers.