MACON — Noxubee County football coach Tyrone Shorter spends most of his practice sessions encouraging a bevy of sophomores to grow up.
Since Jeffery Simmons stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 240 pounds, he already has the growth market covered.
On the football field, the younger brother of former Noxubee County High School sensation Dylan Bradley is growing, too.
Simmons spent Friday night in the backfield making life miserable for quarterback Trace Lee and the rest of the Columbus Falcons. Simmons also lit up the scoreboard, catching a touchdown pass from Tamorris Conner and returning a fumble for a touchdown on defense. Those plays helped Noxubee County grow a tremendous amount in one week as it defeated Columbus 21-10.
“As a sophomore, you aren’t supposed to grow up all that fast,” Simmons said. “But when you are on a team that has a bunch of sophomores, you don’t have much choice. I knew it was my time to step up and make some things happen. We lost last week, and we didn’t want that feeling again.”
Noxubee County dropped a 17-0 decision to Starkville in its season opener last week. One would have to go back to 2006 to find the last time Noxubee County lost on back-to-back Friday nights. For a sophomore class barely able to remember such a time, there was a determination not to let it happen this time.
“When we lost to Starkville, we took it personal,” Noxubee County sophomore quarterback Tamorris Conner said. “All Noxubee County does is win. The last thing we wanted around here was a losing streak.”
The streak was avoided thanks in large part to the way Noxubee County won all 16 games it played a season ago: by playing stellar defense. Simmons and senior defensive end Denzell Clemons set up shop in the Columbus backfield about as often as the Falcons had the football.
As a result, Columbus gained only 144 yards of total offense, including 37 in the final half. Noxubee County had eight tackles for loss, six sacks, and five other plays where the Falcons managed zero yards. Quarterback Trace Lee left the game in the third quarter with a headache after a series in which he was sacked on back-to-back plays and held to no yards on another rushing attempt when the pocket collapsed.
“We kind of wreaked havoc back there tonight,” Clemons said. “That is our job on defense. Then what can you say about No. 94 (Simmons). He scored an offensive touchdown and a defensive touchdown. That is called carrying your team.”
On the third possession of last week’s loss to Starkville, Noxubee County drove 74 yards before turning the ball over on downs at the Starkville 8-yard line. The loss to Starkville started with a lost fumble on the game’s second play. Starkville grabbed that fumble, scored quickly, and never trailed.
One week later, the Tigers were in the same exact spot. Conner was intercepted on the game’s second play and Columbus took the interception back to the Noxubee County 1. The Tigers held and got a turnover on downs. Noxubee County then took that possession 97 yards for the first touchdown.
Conner hit Simmons for a 6-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 at the Columbus 6.
“I don’t know if you could say one play could turn around the season,” Shorter said. “But it just might. We give up the turnover. They don’t score. We get the ball back drive and score. It is the exact opposite of what happened the week before.
“To complete the 97 yard drive and score is huge. That is what we call growing up. That is what we talked about in practice on Monday. How do you benefit from last week’s experience in this week’s game? Scoring first and generating some offense … That one play was extremely huge for this team.”
Columbus battled back for a 10-7 halftime lead. However, the Falcons’ highlights were few and far between in the second half. Simmons and Clemons were a force. Eric Hunt and Darrell Brandon provided reinforcements.
“It was a different mind-set in practice this week,” Simmons said. “There was no fooling around or cutting up. Everybody was serious. I think the loss last week really humbled us. We knew we had to get our act together rather quickly. You never want to lose, but if you learn from it, it can help you out.”
Noxubee County grabbed the lead midway through the third quarter on a 95-yard drive. Two Columbus defenders collided on a pass route and Kynbotric Mason took full advantage for a 60-yard touchdown reception.
The Tigers held the better of field position the rest of the way. Noxubee County didn’t pull the turnover lever until the end. Simmons stripped backup quarterback Kevin Jackson and returned his theft 21 yards for the game-clinching touchdown with 1 minute, 22 seconds left. An interception by sophomore linebacker Jeffrey Cooper sealed the deal as the final horn sounded.
“If you look up and down the roster, you see sophomore after sophomore,” Shorter said. “We know who we are and we are comfortable with it. We also know we made three turnovers, committed a couple of costly penalties, and beat a Class 6A playoff team at the same time.
“I am pretty proud and pretty excited because I know where we are headed.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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