National Ranking

TIGERS CLAIM TOP FIFTEEN FINAL NATIONAL RANKING AFTER UNIQUE SEASON

The longest season in college football history has ended with Northeast Mississippi Community College grouped among the elite programs across the country.

The Tigers check in at No. 13 in the final JCGridiron Dirty 30 ranking of the 2020-21 academic year, which was released following the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championship game earlier this month.

“When you look back, I think that our kids bought in from day one to what we were preaching,” said Northeast head coach Greg Davis. “We were a talented group. They came to work every day. We were all in it together.”

The Tigers opened the season one month later than usual on October 1st with the first of six contests inside the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC) North Division.

Northeast was one of only 18 two-year college programs to compete during the fall semester along with 12 fellow MACCC affiliates and five independent teams in Arizona’s Hohokam Junior College Athletic Conference (HJCAC).

The Tigers were one of just three MACCC programs to complete their full regular season schedule alongside Pearl River Community College and Southwest Mississippi Community College.

The remainder of the NJCAA fielded teams in the spring as did five members of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA). Some teams played as few as two games while others got in as many as eight contests.

“We didn’t know what covid was going to bring to us, but the kids handled the protocols and did what we asked them to do,” Davis said. “Hats off to them. All the credit goes to the players.”

Northeast captured three straight wins to begin the most unique campaign in school history against Holmes Community College, Mississippi Delta Community College and Coahoma Community College on homecoming night.

The Tigers bounced back from a heartbreaking overtime loss to Northwest Mississippi Community College with road victories over Holmes and Itawamba Community College to conclude the season.

It was Northeast’s first triumph over the Indians in Fulton since 2004. The Tigers essentially led from start to finish after an 82-yard touchdown pass less than one minute into the rivalry matchup.

Northeast tied Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for the most All-MACCC selections with 14. Andison Coby and John Ellis Murrah led the way by earning postseason recognition at two different positions.

This is the second time in five years that the Tigers have finished with a top 15 national ranking. Northeast appeared at No. 10 in the last NJCAA ratings of the 2016 campaign after piecing together a 6-3 record.