Alva Review-Courier -

The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Rangers hosted the East Central Tigers Saturday afternoon for their homecoming weekend hoping to end their three-game losing streak with a big win.

Despite a 65-yard kick returned for a touchdown from Jarion Tudman being reversed because of a holding penalty by the Rangers, that big return set the tone early as Northwestern hoped to use that for their momentum. Unfortunately, it was the Tigers that were the first on the board as their quarterback, Jackson Lamb, found David Moore for a 51-yard touchdown pass with 9:17 left in the first quarter.

The Rangers finally answered back late in the first quarter, as Devin Peyton snatched an interception inside the Tigers' red zone for an eight-yard return. With possession on ECU's 12-yard line, Horatio Smith got the handoff for a 12-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 2:35 left in the first period.

Northwestern answered again early in the second quarter to get their first lead of the game off a 19-yard pass completion to Andrew Yates on a six-play 38-yard drive to lead 14-7.

The Tigers continued to battle back and were able to tie the game up again on their second possession of the quarter as they made an 88-yard march down the field to end the drive on a two-yard passing touchdown to Dezmon Jackson.

With the Rangers answering on their next possession, they started to create some distance as Miller found Smith over the top of the Tigers' secondary for a 42-yard touchdown pass and the 21-14 lead with 9:07 left to go in the half.

Though the Tigers were able to get another rushing touchdown on the board from T. Jackson, Northwestern's Erick Cook blocked the extra-point attempt to keep the lead with the score at 21-20.

The Rangers were able to get another big passing touchdown, this time to Arté Miura Jr. for 77-yards, with just under five minutes to go before halftime and a 28-20 lead over ECU.

East Central responded in their final possession of the half as Lamb found Trinity Benson for a 24-yard passing touchdown. A failed two-point conversion from ECU put the score at 28-26 in Northwestern's favor before halftime.

In the second half, the Rangers took over on their 21-yard line after forcing the Tigers to punt the ball away. Back-to-back big rushing plays from Jacob Peyton for 17-yards and Jalen Williams for 19-yards put the Rangers just outside ECU territory on the 47-yard line. The Rangers continued to push the ball up the field as they ended their possession with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Miura to build their lead to 35-26.

Seven minutes later, the Rangers scored once more before the final quarter as Williams put the Rangers in ECU territory off a 16-yard run, and Miller ended the drive off a 36-yard touchdown to Michael Jordan to get a 42-26 lead with 2:49 left in the third quarter.

That was the final score of the evening, as the Rangers were able to cruise to their second win of the season and a 42-26 homecoming victory over the ECU Tigers.

Stats

Miller ended the game completing 21-of-32 of his passes for 319 yards and five touchdowns. Miura had a great night on the receiving end with 143 yards off five passes and two touchdowns. Smith had three receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown, Yates finished with 51 yards off three catches for a touchdown, and Jordan had the other touchdown off one 36-yard catch. Other contributors through the air were J. Peyton with 26 yards off three catches and J. Williams with 10 yards off one catch.

Leslie Nation

Maurice Wright Jr. (24) picks up the short kick on the kick return and jukes to the outside to deny the tackle of Vernon Johnson (10).

In the rushing game, J. Williams was the leading rusher with 70 yards off 15 attempts, while J. Peyton finished with 39 yards off 11 carries. Malcolm Robinson had 31 yards off eight carries, and Smith had the only rushing touchdown of a 12-yard run.

Devin Peyton finished the night leading the defense with eight tackles and an interception with an eight-yard return. Aharon Barnes had seven tackles with an interception, while Wright and Manuel Gallo each picked up five tackles.

Theodis Williams, Joby Saint-Fleur and Ramon Readus each picked up a sack for a combined loss of 19-yards. Jordan Norris snatched the only other interception of the night with a 14-yard return.

Up next, the Rangers (2-3) will be back on the road to Durant, Okla., as they face off with Southeastern Oklahoma State University (3-2) with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. on Oct. 8.

To view more photos of this game, visit https://goo.gl/BkK8K8.