MACON — For the third time in the past two years, the Noxubee County High School football team will represent the state of Mississippi in a showcase event.
For the second year in a row, Noxubee County will get a chance to play at home in that game.
At 8 p.m. Saturday, Noxubee County (1-0) will play host to Craigmont (Tenn.) (0-0) in the second game of the Memphis vs. Mississippi Gridiron Classic. Louisville (0-1) will take on Ridgeway (Tenn.) (1-0) at 5 p.m. in the first game.
The doubleheader is the second installment of Noxubee County’s two-year agreement with the Gridiron Challenge Foundation. Last year, Noxubee County lost to Spain Park (Ala.) 24-20 in Hoover, Ala. Louisville defeated Demopolis (Ala.) 20-17 in the first game of that doubleheader.
Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter is looking to build on a 29-8 victory against defending Class 5A North State champion Starkville last week in Starkville. He said this week’s game should help Noxubee County raise its profile.
“Last year, I had people from all over the state and some other states tell me they saw the Bright Lights game,” Shorter said. “Everybody was like, ‘Wow, Noxubee County is a pretty good football team.’ Then we went over to play in the Gridiron Classic. Nobody gave us a chance to beat Spain Park over there. The ballgame went to the wire. That is what I want to do here. I want to bring that type of game to Noxubee County, and play in that type of atmosphere that expose our kids. That’s what we’re looking to do, to take this program to another level. Having games like that really has been a blessing.”
Billy Fleming, executive director of the Gridiron Challenge Foundation, said Louisville High will play host to a Gridiron Classic next year. He said Noxubee County also will participate in 2013. He said the teams that will play Louisville and Noxubee County in 2013 haven’t been selected.
“Hopefully the games (this year) will be close contests,” said Fleming, whose group assists schools with the organization of the events. “Usually the games we are directly involved with are close contests.”
Fleming was part of the team that helped organize a matchup between West Point and Mainland (Fla.) in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 2010. Olive Branch played Cocoa (Fla.) in the other game involving a team from Mississippi.
Fleming said 2010 was the first year teams from Mississippi participated in the Gridiron Classics, which are held throughout the region and involve teams from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas.
Fleming said part of the work his organization does involves finding opponents that match up the best. He said he utilizes a computer program to ensure as competitive a game as possible. If that computation projects an outcome of 20 or more points, he said those teams aren’t paired together.
Fleming also said organizers have opted to match teams that are geographically closer to prevent teams like West Point and Olive Branch from traveling great distances, like they did in 2010. He said the games two years ago were great but that it was a “huge letdown financially” because the attendance wasn’t what it was supposed to have been. As a result, he said the decision was made to get the schools and their communities more involved to put on the games.
In addition to participating in the Gridiron Classic last year, Noxubee County also played host to Louisville in the C Spire Wireless’ Bright Lights Football “Y’all vs. Us” rivalry series. Louisville won that game 14-12.
Shorter feels both games have helped his team, which has 23 seniors, know what to expect in a game that will attract regional interest. It also is a chance for his program, which was Class 4A runner-up in 2007 and Class 4A state champion in 2008, to show it belongs in the first group people mention when talking about the best teams in the state of Mississippi.
“Over the last 10 years, I have been here that long, even when coach (M.C.) Miller was here, we are one of the elite teams in the state,” said Shorter, who was a longtime assistant coach to Miller before taking over as head coach prior to the 2010 season. “When you look wins and losses in the last eight years, I think we rank No. 3 in the state behind South Panola and Meridian.
“Every year we are going to be competitive. Looking at our younger kids coming up, we have some talent here. This program could easily be like a South Panola or a Meridian, but we need more resources. We don’t have the big-money resources like those schools, but this program is a diamond in the rough.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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