MACON — The script seems awfully familiar to Tyrone Shorter.
A year ago, a lot of the talk surrounding the matchup between the St. Stanislaus and the Noxubee County high school football teams for the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A state title centered around how the Tigers were going to stop quarterback Myles Brennan and the Rock-a-Chaws’ prolific passing game.
Many thought the Tigers would run the football in an attempt to slow the game down and limit Brennan’s time on the field to do damage.
Instead, junior quarterback Timorrius Conner had one of his best passing games of the
season to lead Noxubee County to a 48-27 victory at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium.
Brennan’s statistics are just as impressive as the countdown continues for the rematch between Noxubee County (11-4) and St. Stanislaus (11-3) in the Class 4A championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
This season, the major difference comparing Brennan, who has thrown for 4,980 yards and 51 touchdowns, and St. Stanislaus’ offense to Noxubee County’s defense is the Tigers don’t have cornerbacks like Wesley Bush and Mahlon Robinson. Bush went on to play at Northwest Mississippi Community College, while Robinson signed with Alcorn State.
Shorter admits he would love to have Bush and Robinson again, but he said he feels good about the back of the Tigers’ defense. Freshman Kyziah Pruitt and junior Joshua Little will take on the challenge at cornerback, while seniors Deveon Ball and Ladaveon Smith and juniors Jataquist Sherrod and Kymbotric Mason will see time at safety.
“These guys are young this year, but they are playing at a high level, especially at this time of the season,” Shorter said.
Shorter hopes Noxubee County will be able to be as strong up front as it was last season against St. Stanislaus. In 2014, Brennan threw for 259 yards, but the Tigers were able to use Bush and Robinson in man-to-man coverage because they had six quarterback hurries and two sacks.
Defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons, middle linebacker Quendarrion Barnett, and Ball are the team’s only returning senior starters on defense. All three played key roles against St. Stanislaus last season. Shorter feels Simmons, a member of The Clarion-Ledger’s Dandy Dozen, will be an important weapon in the game plan. He anticipates the Rock-a-Chaws will throw the ball 40-50 times and that they will score, but that’s OK. He said his defensive line is up for the challenge.
“Playing that game last year and knowing what they are about, we are built for that type of offense,” Shorter said. “We play a lot of seven-on-seven. It reminds me of seven-on-seven because they are going to throw it all over the field and run routes and pick you and try to get the ball out of Brennan’s hands quick. We just have to be physical against them.
“We are going to be in their face. We are not going to try to play off them.”
Despite Noxubee County’s success against St. Stanislaus in 2014, Shorter feels people are forgetting how well his offense played to help the team win its third state title. Conner was 19 of 33 for 340 yards and four touchdowns (one interception) as the Tigers capitalized on an early blocked punt by Simmons that resulted in a touchdown by Kevorkian Brewer to seize the momentum. Shorter said the return of eight starters on offense who played against St. Stanislaus gives him confidence Noxubee County can put point on the scoreboard, too.
“There might be 100 points scored in the ballgame,” Shorter said. “We might play for four hours because we are going to line up and throw it at them because we feel like they can’t cover us. We have 6-foot-2, 6-4 receivers and fast, athletic guys. We are going to line up in Trips Open and spread the ball out and throw the ball at them. We are going to give them the same game they are going to give us. They can’t cover us. They feel like we can’t cover them and we feel like they can’t cover us. I think this game is going to come down to which defense is better at the end. The way we have been playing defense this year, I’m OK because I know we can stop a passing game.”
Noxubee County hasn’t been tested in the playoffs this season by a team that throws the ball as much or with as much success as St. Stanislaus. Lafayette County likely offered Noxubee County its biggest challenge through the air, but even that was a surprise because the Tigers felt the Commodores’ strength was their rushing attack.
Things likely will be different Saturday because nearly everyone feels the Rock-a-Chaws will rely on Brennan’s arm to carry them to a state title.
Shorter doesn’t think his team’s inexperience in the secondary will prevent it from becoming the school’s first football team to win back-to-back championships.
“I feel like a lot of people think we are going in as the underdog, and I think a lot of people think we are going to be fine against this team,” Shorter said. “A lot of people probably haven’t seen us play. You know how people are. They see the numbers — almost 5,000 yards passing and one receiver has 19 touchdowns — and they say, ‘Noxubee County better have some NFL DBs because they are not going to be able to slow them down.’ Then look what happened.
“The game is played on the field, not because of what people think. Numbers don’t mean a thing. Who would have thought after us losing four-straight games we are going to be in the state championship game? Nobody. Everybody pretty much wrote us off. The game is meant to be played on the field. The game is going to be decided by these kids, not by what people think or what people write.
“In some sense, I think a lot of people think St. Stanislaus is going to blow Noxubee County out because (we) are young on defense,” Shorter said. “They are looking at all of the kids we graduated defensively, and then they see the slow start we had offensively. That is supposed to be our strength because we have eight starters back. Who knows that those guys who played in the state championship game last year — eight of them are back — can come out and have the same offensive showing that they did last year? That is the plan.
“We know we are not going to stop this team. We are going to try to slow them down, just like we did last year, and we are going to try to score more points than them.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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