MACON — If you’re a defensive player, you might not want Tyrone Shorter grading your performance.
Shorter was a standout defensive back who spent two seasons at Hinds Community College before transferring to Austin Peay. He was invited to the San Diego Chargers’ training camp in 1996 and made the practice squad before he was hurt. He then spent a year playing defensive back in Canada (1997) before he returned to the state of Mississippi.
Shorter then gravitated to coaching and found a spot on the coaching staff of M.C. Miller at Noxubee County High School. Shorter served as coach of the defensive backs before moving to defensive coordinator and assistant coach. He was promoted to head coach in 2010 when Miller left Noxubee County High to become coach at Louisville High.
Since then, Shorter has helped elevate the Tigers to another level. Last season, Noxubee County won its second-consecutive Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A State title, and third in four years.
Living up to the accomplishments of the past two squads will be a challenge for the 2016 Tigers. But don’t think for a minute that means Shorter is going to go easy on his players. Instead, he likely will be on them even harder to help them live up to their potential. So while Shorter was pleased with a 19-6 victory against Class 5A Grenada on Saturday in the New Hope Jamboree at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium, he knows the team — and the defense — has a lot of work to do.
“We just have to iron out some kinks,” Shorter said. “We were just out of position in certain plays and lined up too tight sometimes in the linebackers. I thought we missed too many tackles at times, but that is what that game is for. Overall, defensively I thought we played decent. I would grade them out maybe as a ‘D’, maybe a ‘C-‘ because I know we can play a whole lot better than that.”
Shorter and his coaching staff have worked to help Noxubee County eliminate those “kinks” so it will be ready to face reigning Class 6A State champion Starkville at 7 p.m. Friday in the season opener for both teams. Last season, Noxubee County beat Starkville 26-20 in double overtime in Macon. This season, the game will be in Starkville, so Shorter knows his team will face a hostile environment as it begins its quest for a three-peat.
“A lot of these kids know those kids, and their kids know our kids,” Shorter said. “One things about our kids, it doesn’t matter who they play, they are going to play their heart out. That is what I like about them. They are not afraid of 6A schools or 5A schools. They are going to play hard.
“I think everybody picked it as their game of the week, but we had a great practice (Monday) and they are up for it. I feel if we don’t have a lot of mistakes and we don’t turn the football over and we don’t give up big plays, I think we will be fine. Even though we are young, I think Starkville is young, too. I think they have some issues and concerns with their quarterback just like we do. They have some young, inexperienced guys. I think they are very good defensively. We can’t turn the ball over or make mistakes. Our mistakes can’t hurt us. If we do that and play good special teams and play smart, I think we will have a chance.”
Starkville second-year head coach Ricky Woods said it didn’t take long for him to understand the importance of the rivalry against Noxubee County. The Tigers have won five of past seven matchups. The teams have met in the season opener for the last eight seasons.
Woods said the game won’t take on added significance because Starkville lost last season. He said it will be a valuable game because both teams will be able to learn from their mistakes to put them in position to contend for state championships in December.
“In the loss last year, we found out a lot of questions,” Woods said. “We didn’t have but about half our offense in. We got in late and we didn’t have a spring. It takes a while to put this stuff in. You want to win every game, no matter if you won them all last year. You just need to win the games.”
Woods feels Starkville played hard in a 14-0 loss to Brandon in its jamboree. He said the Yellow Jackets accomplished their goal of playing a lot of players to gauge who can do what. To that end, Woods said Jacquez Akins will start at quarterback Friday night. Akins has been competing with Malik Brown and Ben Owens for the chance to take over from Montario Montgomery, who led the team to the state title in his first year as quarterback.
“Quez will be the quarterback. He’ll play Friday night,” Woods said. “He ran the first three plays and he was the starter going in. He slightly sprained his ankle a little bit, but he’s fine. He practiced (Tuesday). He should be full gear. He’ll be the quarterback Friday.”
Shorter has similar opportunities to see a new quarterback in action. Sophomore Maliek Stallings takes over for his cousin, Timorrius Conner, who is now at East Mississippi Community College. Shorter feels there are a lot of parallels between Stallings, who is a sophomore, and Conner, who took over as the Tigers’ starting quarterback as a sophomore.
“That is just a glimpse of how good the kid can be,” Shorter said. “We know he is going to go through some growing pains this year, but we as coaches have to do a good job of putting him in good situations. His upside and his ability, the sky is the limit on it. He can do some things and he is very talented. He is a fast kid. He has a good arm. He is a smart kid. It is just a lack of experience on the high school level. It is different from ninth-grade football. The kids are bigger, faster, and stronger.
“He just has to catch up to the speed of the game. I think this kid is going to be fine. We have some playmakers, and he just has to get the ball to him.”
Shorter said Stallings also is a cousin to Omarr Conner, a former Mr. Football in the state of Mississippi, who went on to play football at Mississippi State.
Shorter liked how Stallings and the Tigers capitalized on their play-action game against a big, physical opponent like Grenada. He feels confident Noxubee County should be able to run the football this season thanks to an experienced and deep group of running backs and a veteran offensive line, but he knows a stout Starkville defense will test both groups.
“I think we’re going to be able to run the football this year. That is going to be our strength,” Shorter said. “Once we settle down and we started moving the ball (against Grenada) and run-pass, run-pass, I think that is when we are at our best. Once we started doing that, I think that is when we gave Grenada some problems.”
On defense, Shorter said the Tigers played “pretty good” up front, the linebackers have some work to do, and the secondary did a great job, including an interception return for a touchdown. Still, Shorter didn’t want to lavish his defense with praise because he knows what they can do. That’s why he has to temper his optimism about this season with words like “chance” because he knows the Tigers are young in spots and they have to make up for key graduation losses in pivotal positions.
“When I say they have a chance to be really good, I have been around going on 19 years and I have been around a lot of talent,” Shorter said. “This offense has a lot of talent, but we are inexperienced. That is why I say we have a chance to be really good. … I am anxious myself to see us against another opponent. Even though we made a lot of mistakes in the spring game, we had drives that stalled, and that was after a few weeks of practice.
“I am not saying this team is going to be ready right off, which I hope we do because we have a tough opponent. But if any team can stand that type of schedule, Noxubee County can. Not to say we are going to win them all. We are going to work our butts off to try to win them all, but I know our kids are going to fight to the end. That is all I ask of them.”
Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait contributed to this report.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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