MACON — The atmosphere was absolutely electric Thursday night on the campus of Noxubee County High School. Cars were packed to the road. One could hear audio from the video board in the end zone from miles away.
A standing-room only crowd was inside the stadium. A regional television audience was also on hand throughout the southeast.
Fortunately, Region 4-4A heavyweights Noxubee County and Louisville delivered a masterpiece performance.
Former Noxubee County coach M.C. Miller made his return to Macon and paced the visiting sidelines for the first time as he led his Wildcats to a 14-12 victory over former colleague and close friend Tyrone Shorter and the Tigers.
“Coach Miller is a coaching legend,” Louisville resident Nathan Stanley said. “He makes you motivated to want to come out to see the team play. Coach Miller understands the passion that the city of Louisville has for its football program. He has a plan to get the Wildcats back among the state’s elite.”
Thursday night, Louisville (9-1 overall, 4-0 region) extended its win streak to nine straight games, while staking claim to first place in the regional race. Louisville won Thursday night – as it has all year – with an incredible defensive effort. The Wildcats turned Noxubee County away on downs four different times in the contest.
“Playing defense is fun,” Louisville senior cornerback C.J. Bates said. “We take it as a personal challenge that the other team is not going to score. If they are going to score, then they are going to have to earn it. We are not going to lay down.”
In Miller’s first season at his new stop, Louisville had early-season struggles. Still, the squad managed to finish the 2010 season second in region play. Louisville posted an 8-5 mark, including a second-round playoff loss to Lafayette County.
“You could tell that we were headed in the right direction,” Louisville resident Pat Clarke said. “I think some people questioned some of the decisions last season. Some people didn’t think some of the right players were playing. It takes a strong person to really hold everything together and face adversity. I think we found that type of person in Coach Miller.”
The coaching matchup is now even at a game apiece. Shorter, who worked for better than a decade as an assistant on Miller’s staff at Noxubee County, won the first matchup between teacher and pupil 19-12 last season in Louisville.
“We are the best of friends and it will always be that way,” said Miller, who led Noxubee to the Class 4A state championship in 2008. “Tonight, it was strictly business. The game was more emotional than I thought it would be. I guess that is because this was the first time that I coached back in this stadium. So many fond memories here, and they will always be a part of me.”
The contest showed a couple of teams built out of the same mold. Each team has relied on strong defensive pressure and a physical, ball-hawking, attacking style of play. Offensively, each team takes few chances and prefers to run the ball between the tackles.
“It is a testament to both coaches at how well each program is doing,” Noxubee County Principal Dr. Hattie Richardson-Thomas said. “Coach Miller was a very special person here for a very long time. Coach Shorter is now our coach. We are really proud of both of them.”
Everyone involved can be proud of the performance Thursday night. The contest was played as part of C Spire’s “Bright Lights” football package. Bright Lights will televise three long-standing rivalry matchups throughout the southeast.
The other series stop in Mississippi will be next Thursday when Northwest Rankin hosts Madison Central.
“This was an incredible atmosphere and a great experience to be a part of,” Fox Sports South color analyst Matt Wyatt said. “This is a unique opportunity for these young men. They will remember playing in this game for the rest of their lives.”
A 30-person production crew was in Macon to assist with Thursday night’s broadcast. A massive 22-by-40 foot jumbotron also hovered just behind one end zone. In addition to a live video feed of the contest, viewers were able to tweet messages which scrolled on the bottom of the video feed.
It all added up to quite a night for everybody involved. The big winner though was the Louisville Wildcats. With the victory, Louisville secured the region’s No. 1 playoff seed. Noxubee County can still sew up a first-round playoff game at home by beating Caledonia next Friday night.
One might also want to pencil in Nov. 25 on the calendar. The North State Class 4A championship game could very well be the destination for the third installment of teacher versus pupil.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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