For December 5th in the midwest it was a spectacular day with sunny skies, light breezes and temperature in the mid-70's. And the prospects for a game as good as the weather were excellent with a matchup featuring the big play offense of Northwest Mississippi against the brutal, swarming defense of Middle Georgia.

But shortly after the playing of the National Anthem it was obvious that the football was going to be ugly. After taking a 3-0 lead on Les Binkley's 36 yard first quarter field goal, the Rangers day went downhill. Middle Georgia's record-setting defense had Northwest Mississippi in self-destruct mode all afternoon. The Rangers had untimely penalties, interceptions, fumbles, dropped passes, shanked punts, muffs, slips and mental errors. 35 penalties gave it all the continuity of a game of musical chairs.

Led my linebacker Kendrell Bell and nose tackle Nakia Adderson, the Warriors punished every Northwest ball carrier and receiver and harassed quarterback John Holmes into numerous mistakes. In all, they forced six Northwest turnovers which led to 27 points. They limited a Northwest offense that had average 437 yards a game to only 188. Middle Georgia's offense was efficient, taking advantage of the field position that the defense gave them.

Running back Rico Martin gave the Warriors a 7-3 first quarter lead with a 14 yard touchdown run, but they blew the game open with 20 second quarter points. Iniko Simpson fell on a Martin fumble in the end zone to open the quarter and Jason French caught a 21 yard TD pass from quarterback Jason Vaughan with 47 seconds left to close it. But the unlikely star was kicker Casey Sirmons who shattered a 36 year old Mineral Water Bowl record with a pair of 48 yard field goals.

The 27-3 halftime deficit took the drama out of the game and much of the fight out of Northwest Mississippi. The second half was riddled with penalty flags and more of Middle Georgia's stifling defense. The Warriors added two more touchdowns on a punt return by Tim Stokes and a 41 yard scamper by Demetrius Berry.