BOONEVILLE – Northeast and Coahoma battled for four quarters and an extra 55 minutes at Keenum Stadium on Thursday night but after four overtime periods the Coahoma Tigers walked away victorious.

Coahoma picked up the 20-14 win in the fourth overtime when NEMCC’s defensive back Jereian Cole (Anguilla) slipped down at the five yard line while CCC’s wide-out Hollis Moore stood in the end zone all alone waiting on the 23-yard game winning touchdown pass to land in his hands.

On a field that was more suitable for mud wrestling then football, the Northeast offense was able to overcome the nasty conditions early on.....scoring on a 19-yard pass from QB Clint Wilson (Olive Branch) to WR Dominique King (Tuscumbia, Ala.) at the 9:23 mark in the first quarter. Tyler Turner nailed the PAT to make it 7-0.

In the second period, Northeast’s defense added six more points when freshman defensive back Buck Beane (Baldwyn) stripped the ball out of Moore’s hands--on a spectacular play-- and raced 50 yards to “pay-mud” for the 14-0 lead after the Turner PAT.

However, Coahoma quickly responded on a 35-yard TD strike from quarterback Garrick Jones to Ladarius Dawson with 10:53 left before the half to cut the lead to seven points 14-7 after the Reed Gallagher PAT.

Although Northeast caused two turnovers before the end of the first half, one off of a Turner punt that hit a Coahoma player and was recovered by safety Jay McIntosh (Greenville) inside Coahoma territory, and another by safety LaDarrius Madden (Leighton, Ala.) who picked off Jones with 1:24 left before the break, the Tigers were unable to capitalize off the Coahoma mistakes and the score remained 14-7 at the half time break.

In the second half, Coahoma was able to find the end zone with 9:45 left in the third frame when back-up quarterback Keondrick Brown hit Moore along the visiting sideline for a 60-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14-all after the Gallagher PAT.

The scored remained 14-14 through the third and into the fourth quarter where Coahoma looked to seal the deal with just a few ticks left in the game. But, Gallagher’s 32-yard FG attempt sailed wide-right and the home-standing Tigers forced the game into overtime.

Northeast won the overtime coin toss and elected to play on defense first. Led by defensive tackle John Brown (Lakeland, Fla.) and defensive end Bernard Smith (Atlanta, Ga.), the Tigers forced Coahoma to go the field goal route. The attempt failed, but Northeast’s possession also ended in a field goal attempt that fell short from Turner from 35-yards out forcing another overtime period.

Coahoma got another chance to end the game with a field goal in the second OT after NE failed to score on their offensive possession. This time it was a 42-yard shot from Gallagher that fell just inches away from the cross bar sending the game into another round of overtime.

Neither team could score in the third overtime with both squads failing to convert on fourth down.

That set the stage for the fourth OT game-winner by Coahoma. After Northeast failed to convert another fourth down attempt on its possession, Coahoma finally put an end to the late night showdown scoring on the 23-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Hollis for the 20-13 victory.

With the loss Northeast slipped out of the playoff race and dropped to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the North Division. Coahoma moved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the North.

Smither and company will look to end the season on a high note in their last game of the 2009 season when the Tigers travel to Senatobia to face the Rangers of Northwest.

Kick-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 24.