CALEDONIA — Seventeen seniors on the Caledonia High School football team suited up for the final time here Friday evening.
Those seniors had a chance to face Noxubee County, the third-ranked high school team in the state of Mississippi and the No. 1 team in Class 4A, according to The Associated Press.
Unfortunately for the Confederates, the Tigers left no doubt why they claim those rankings with a 34-7 victory in the regular-season finale.
“These seniors have been through a lot of adversity,” Caledonia coach Ricky Kendrick said. “But they’ve stuck with it even during the bad times, and they’re just a great group of young men who represent their school and their community well.”
After winning their first four non-division contests, Caledonia dropped their last seven games to finish 4-7 and 0-5 in Class 4A, Region 4.
“We rolled early, but we didn’t finish the season like we wanted to,” Kendrick said. “But even though we finished with some Ls (losses), it didn’t reflect who these kids are and what the seniors accomplished those coming back can build on for the future.”
Although the game was over at the half for all practical purposes, Kendrick said his squad gave it all it had.
“I couldn’t have been more proud of these kids if we had finished 11-0,” Kendrick said. “And what I was most impressed with was the fact we didn’t quit, even when we were down 34-0 at the half.”
Noxubee County (11-0, 5-0) entered the game averaging 38.5 points per game. The Tigers didn’t miss their mark by much, as they scored on five of their first six possessions to build the 34-0 halftime lead.
Playing with a running clock starting in the third quarter, Noxubee coach Tyrone Shorter played his reserves most of the second half.
As he has all season, Noxubee County running back Darrell Robinson paced the Tigers. Coming off a six-touchdown, 326-yard performance last week against Louisville, the 5-foot-10, 191-pound speedster torched Caledonia for 167 yards on 18 carries, caught one pass for 34 yards, and scored four touchdowns in two quarters.
His four scores give him 37 touchdowns on the season, just 10 off the state record of 47 set by Weir’s Dicenzo Miller. He has rushed for 1,901 yards.
“Darrell’s our go-to guy,” Shorter said. “He can go wide and run around you and he can go up the middle and run over you.”
Robinson’s initial carry was his shortest, a 1-yard plunge. Two plays later, he bolted 61 yards for his first touchdown 1 minute, 39 seconds into the first quarter.
On Noxubee County’s second series, Robinson capped a nine-play, 58-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown. After a 53-yard touchdown pass from DeAngelo Ballard to wide receiver Charles Hughes made it 19-0, Robinson scored his third touchdown on a 5-yard sweep three plays into the second quarter.
The Tigers failed to score on their fifth possession, but a Caledonia fumble two plays later set up Robinson’s fourth and final touchdown — a 3-yard run with 1:03 left in the second quarter.
Zack Kaufman was 4-for-5 on extra point attempts.
Caledonia’s lone score came with 8:50 to play and capped a 15-play 84-yard march. Colton Gilbreath’s 2-yard run and Josh Kugel’s PAT kick allowed the Confederates avoid the shutout.
“Caledonia has a good team, and we’re just glad to get out of here without any more injuries,” Shorter said. “Monday we start a new season and we just want to get our injured players healthy and make a run for the state championship.”
Like Kendrick, Shorter said his seniors played a big part in the Tigers’ successful season.
“I’m proud of our young men, and our seniors in particular,” Shorter said. “They provided the leadership necessary to finish the regular season undefeated, and that was one of our goals this year.”
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