OXFORD — Don’t disrespect the defense.
All week, Quendarrion Barnett and his defensive teammates on the Noxubee County High School football team heard the talk about Myles Brennan and the St. Stanislaus offense.
Everywhere the Tigers’ defensive players looked, people asked them how they were going to stop Brennan, who entered the game with more than 4,900 passing yards and 51 touchdowns.
But if history has taught us anything it is not to sleep on the Noxubee County defense.
Barnett and his mates delivered another example of that adage Saturday.
Buoyed by a defense that had seven sacks and limited St. Stanislaus to -47 yards rushing, Noxubee County rolled to a 44-23 victory in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A State title game at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The victory helped Noxubee County (12-4) finish the season on a 10-game winning streak and enabled the program to win its first back-to-back state titles, and its fourth championship in school history.
“We had to come into the game with a chip on our shoulder because we heard they were talking all kind of stuff and (were saying) we can’t play with them and they are a whole new team and that they had been waiting for us all year,” said Barnett, a senior middle linebacker, who had team highs with five solo tackles and eight total tackles. “We had to show them why we are one of the dominant teams in 4A.”
Barnett was one of five players who were in on the sacks of Brennan. He also was one of seven Tigers who were in on tackles for loss.
The defensive performance was even more dominating than in 2014, when Noxubee County beat St. Stanislaus 48-27 at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium. Noxubee County had two sacks and nine tackles for loss in that game.
“I just brushed all of that talk aside because I know teams are going to talk,” Barnett said. “Everybody steps their game up when they play Noxubee County. Tonight, they had a chip on their shoulder from last year, and I knew we had to play even harder and with even more force to show them we were the dominant team.”
Noxubee County set the tone on St. Stanislaus’ first possession. A holding call wiped out a Rock-a-Chaws first down. Brennan then was forced to scramble when he was flushed from the pocket. A false start penalty further stalled what started as a promising drive and left St. Stanislaus with a third-and-26.
Things got worse for the Rock-a-Chaws on their second possession.
After Owen Betz gained 2 yards on a sweep, senior defensive end Jeffery Simmons had back-to-back sacks that dropped Brennan for a loss of 16 yards and forced a punt.
Simmons remembered his performance against St. Stanislaus last season. He said several times in interviews after the game that he only had one-half sack and that he was motivated to make an impression in his final high school game. Simmons made his finale a game to remember with three solo tackles (four overall), three-and-a-half sacks, a pass breakup, and four quarterback hurries.
Simmons felt the Tigers’ fast start on defense — they had a sack on the Rock-a-Chaws’ third possession and snuffed out a shovel pass on fourth down on the ensuing drive — helped set the tone for his team to make history.
“(Brennan) is a great quarterback, but other teams let him sit back in the pocket and let him get relaxed,” Simmons said. “I felt like we did a great job, especially as a whole defense getting after him.”
Five plays after St. Stanislaus failed to convert the shovel pass on fourth-and-9 from its 21-yard line, Simmons scored on a 1-yard plunge to make it 19-0.
The back-breaker came on the next possession.
Unable to move the ball in the first 20 minutes, the Rock-a-Chaws put together their best drive. Brennan hit Cahill Marlowe on a 29-yard screen pass for their biggest play of the first half. A pass interference penalty helped St. Stanislaus move to the Noxubee County 7, but Darius Pittman fumbled a pass from Brennan on the 3 after getting hit by Jataquist Sherrod, Deveon Ball, and Kalmorris Robinson. Kyziah Pruitt was in the right place to scoop up the football and race 97 yards to make it 25-0.
A sack by Antonio McCloud and a half sack by Simmons and Miles Smith helped end Noxubee County’s defensive effort in the first half with an exclamation point.
Noxubee County outgained St. Stanislaus 198-52 in the first half.
“The defense played lights out,” Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said. “We should have had a shutout. I am so proud of our coaching staff. These guys watched so much film and they had they broke down. We had them frustrated. We disguised coverages. When you are blessed with a coaching staff like we have, it is awesome.”
St. Stanislaus (11-4) scored on a 54-yard fumble return by Mason Favre in the third quarter. Brennan added two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, but by then it was too late. Brennan was 19 of 33 for 268 yards and the two scores. Last season, Brennan was 33 of 55 for 259 yards and three touchdowns (two interceptions).
Senior quarterback Timorrius Conner again outdueled Brennan, going 18 of 26 for 365 yards and four touchdowns. Last season, he threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns.
Ladaveon Smith led the Tigers with nine catches for 170 yards and a touchdown. Kymbotric Mason had five catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Noxubee County outgained St. Stanislaus 479-221.
After hearing a week’s worth of talk, the Noxubee County defense won’t mind that Brennan had 9 more yards in the rematch. The Tigers will take more pride in the fact they had seven sacks and were part of a team that made history in dominating fashion.
“We had to get after Brennan,” Barnett said. “I know he is a good passer. If he sits in the pocket and has time, he can pick a defense apart. That is why we had to get the pressure we got. We have been working on it all week. We just had to put it all together.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.