Tyrone Shorter knows about aerial wizardry.
As a cornerback Austin Peay, Shorter’s job was to prevent big plays and make life difficult for quarterbacks and wide receivers.
Shorter’s role hasn’t changed now that he is a coach. In his second season as coach at Noxubee County High School, Shorter still takes an active role with the Tigers’ defense.
Prior to the postseason, Shorter knew his team would have a chance to face Amory in the second round of Class 4A North State playoffs. But the longtime defensive coordinator to M.C. Miller at Noxubee County had no idea Amory quarterback Forest Williams would do what he did last week.
Shorter and his coaches spent this week devising a scheme that will slow down Williams, who threw for more than 600 yards last week in a 63-30 victory against Indianola Gentry in the first round. Noxubee County will find out at 7 tonight how successful that plan will be when the teams meet in the second round.
“No matter what level, when you put up that type of numbers on offense in one game, that is big,” Shorter said. “It made me open my eyes. As soon as I got the film, I started watching it and breaking it down.”
Williams was 38 of 50 for 646 yards and eight touchdowns last week. His performance pushed him over the 4,000-yard mark (4,231 yards) and gave him 47 touchdowns against only seven interceptions.
Williams has led the Panthers to a 9-3 mark under second-year coach Trent Hammond. The nine wins is the most Amory has had since 2005.
Noxubee County will have to contend with a host of weapons. Junior Dario Robinson leads Amory with 112 catches for 1,781 yards and 16 touchdowns. Tanner Poole (62 catches), Abaris Woodrick (60), and Jayon Fair (41) also have made their share of big plays this season to help the Panthers get back to the second round for the first time since 2008.
“We played them last year, and (Williams) was a little younger,” said Shorter of his team’s 42-3 victory. “He has a year under his belt in coach Hammond’s system and he looks a whole lot better than last year. We know he is going to be a different quarterback and that he has different receivers, not just one or two.”
Shorter feels his defense will be up for the challenge. He said Noxubee County faced a Spain Park (Ala.) team in the second game of the season that Spain Park has a strong passing game. He said Spain Park likes to use four- and five-receiver sets and that should provide his team with an idea of what it could face tonight.
Shorter also said his offense has taken exception to all of the talk about what the Tigers’ defense will have to do tonight to stop the Panthers. He said that unit will rely on the running back tandem of Darrell Robinson and Ladarrell Hunt, quarterback Deangelo Ballard, and wide receiver Terrance Barron to control the tempo and make tonight a nightmare for the Panthers’ defense.
“I don’t expect it to be a game were we score, they score, we score, they score,” Shorter said. “We’re going to play our normal offense and try to put some drives together and, hopefully, we’re going to run the football. I feel like we have a good chance to run the football against them.”
Regardless of whether it is a high- or a low-scoring game, Shorter feels the Tigers (10-2) are playing well coming off a 42-6 victory against North Pontotoc last week in the first round. He said his kids know they have to limit big plays against them because one of those slip-ups could send the team home for the season.
“I feel like we’re OK and they’re up for the challenge,” Shorter said. “I hear some of the leaders on the defense saying there is no way in the world they’re going to get that many passing yards against us. … I feel our defense can play any style based on what teams bring. If they bring a power game or if they spread it out like Amory, we can do that. I feel good about our chances.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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