BOONEVILLE, Miss. — NEMCC football closed its 2026 season with one more round of good news: freshman quarterback Xae Mayes has been named the NJCAA Offensive Player of the Week, and the Tigers swept all three weekly awards handed out by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference (MACCC).
Northeast Mississippi Community College’s athletics department announced the honors Thursday. Along with Mayes, who also took the MACCC offensive award, defender Jerone Baskin was named the conference’s defensive player of the week and punter-kicker Daniel Sherman earned the special teams award.
Mayes sets school touchdown record in comeback win
The awards follow Northeast’s 28-24 come-from-behind win over Holmes in the final week of the regular season, the Tigers’ fourth victory in a row.
Mayes completed 24 passes for 370 yards and three touchdowns in that game, according to the college. The last of those scoring throws went to Lakendric Draper with nine seconds left in the fourth quarter. It put Northeast ahead for good and gave Mayes 16 touchdown passes on the year, which the college says is a new single-season program record.
He also ran for 104 yards and a touchdown, finishing with 474 yards of total offense and four total touchdowns. It is the first time Mayes has received either the conference or the national weekly award.
Baskin and Sherman complete the NEMCC football sweep
Baskin, a sophomore, had seven tackles against Holmes, five of them solo, with two tackles for loss. The college noted that four of his stops held the Bulldogs to three yards or fewer. It was his first MACCC weekly honor.
Sherman, also a sophomore, won the special teams award for the second time this season. He made all four extra-point tries, hit a 51-yard punt on his only attempt and averaged better than 50 yards per kickoff.
Season numbers released by the college for the three players:
Xae Mayes: 16 touchdown passes, a Northeast single-season record
Jerone Baskin: 77 total tackles, third in the MACCC, and 14 tackles for loss, second in the conference
Daniel Sherman: a league-best 42.9 yards per punt on 34 punts, with 21 downed inside the 20-yard line, and 21 of 21 on extra points during the four-game win streak
Tigers finish 5-5 after strong close
Northeast ended the year at 5-5 overall after winning its last four games. The college said the offense scored at least 28 points in each of its final five games.
On defense, the Tigers allowed 22.6 points per game, fourth in the MACCC. They ranked second in the conference in rushing defense at 86.0 yards allowed per game and second in fumble recoveries with nine.
Northeast plays its home games at Tiger Stadium on the Booneville campus in Prentiss County.
Jon R Myers is the executive editor of Alcorn County News and the founder of the Mississippi News Group, which he started in 2013 to cover communities across North Mississippi. He also founded the Mississippi Sports Group in 2006, which grew from a single community publication into a statewide network covering high school and college athletics. He reports on local government, public safety, schools and community life in Corinth and Alcorn County, working from public meetings, agency records and interviews with the people involved. Contact him at editor@alcornnewsms.com with news tips or corrections. For a correction, include the article link and supporting source material.
Stay connected
Your community. Wherever you are.
Follow Alcorn County News on Facebook for local news from Corinth and across Alcorn County.
