MACON — The Noxubee County High School football team is going to have to go to plan B.
Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said Tuesday that junior quarterback Deangelo Ballard will miss four to six weeks after fracturing his leg Friday in a 45-29 victory against New Hope.
Shorter said sophomore Jessie Bryant will move into the starting lineup and will lead the Tigers (2-1) against Aberdeen (2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. He also said the Tigers could use a wide receiver at quarterback or dip into their stable of running backs or receivers to run a Wildcat attack.
“We just have to regroup,” Shorter said. “We”re going to move some people around, and I think we can still get the job done.”
Ballard was injured with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Shorter said Ballard checked out of a play call in favor of a quarterback sneak on third-and-goal from the New Hope 1. Ballard fumbled on the play and then was carried off the field by two of his teammates.
Ballard might not have been in position to get injured had Bryant and the second-team offense had better success. Shorter opted to take many of his starting players out midway through the third quarter after building a 45-0 lead. But New Hope scored 29 unanswered points against the second- and first-team units. The rally forced Shorter to go back to his bench and re-insert the starters.
Shorter said everyone will have to pick up the slack without Ballard. He said it is disappointing to suffer the injury, especially after he felt things were just starting to click. Ballard had touchdown passes of 28 and 32 yards to Terrence Barron on Friday.
Junior running back Darrell Robinson, who had 129 yards rushing against New Hope, and senior running back Ladarrell Hunt will be counted on to shoulder bigger roles, as will a group of offensive linemen that includes four seniors.
“I think we will be able to run our whole offense,” Shorter said. “Jessie made some mistakes Friday night, but we”re young and we”re going to have to go with him. He isn”t as athletic as Ballard, but he still can run the offense, and we feel comfortable with him running the offense.”
Noxubee County”s defense also will have to do its part. The Tigers showed Friday they might be up to the task, forcing the Trojans into 11 plays of negative yardage in the first half.
Shorter credited junior defensive lineman Dylan Bradley and the rest of the front for getting more penetration and preventing New Hope from establish a rhythm. He said the Tigers will try to duplicate their pressure this week against freshman quarterback Josh Williams and the Bulldogs, the top-ranked team in Class 3A.
“I told the defense we just have to stop making mistakes,” Shorter said. “We were pitching a shutout (Friday) before we put the second group in. Once New Hope got the momentum it was hard to stop them. They”re a good football team, but I think our defense is starting to settle down, and we”re starting to play Tiger football like we normally play. Like I told the defense yesterday, if people can”t score we have a great chance to win.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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