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RIDGELAND — Northwest Rankin’s seniors were seventh graders when the Lady Cougars won their first state championship.

Five years later on a cold and windy night at Ridgeland High, they raised the trophy to celebrate the second.

The Lady Cougars finished one of the greatest seasons in school history Saturday at Ridgeland High, beating Clinton 2-0 to clinch the 6A State Championship.

“We knew we had a great group of girls this year and we felt capable of getting to this game,” Northwest Rankin coach Carli Little said. “The big thing tonight was staying mentally tough, and I thought we did that.”

The Lady Cougars got the party started early, when Championship game MVP Lily Lyle snuck a goal past the keeper following a deflection off a defender in the fourth minute.

Eight minutes later, the Cougars picked up their second goal on a 35-yard free kick from Abbi Hornke. Hornke had a decent look from near the visitor’s sideline, took aim and ripped on into the upper left side of the net.

“I’ve hit that shot so many times in practice,” Hornke said. “I just tried to get it over the wall, and it hit the back of the net.”

In the end, those two goals were all the Lady Cougars (18-1-2) needed.

Clinton had a couple of opportunities to score down the stretch, the best of which was Tailynn Remmel’s free kick from just outside the penalty area with 23 minutes left in regulation, which screamed just over the crossbar.

Clinton finished the season with a 10-6-2 record.