MACON — Tyrone Shorter didn’t want to be in this position again.
A year ago, Shorter could rely on an experienced group of players that was primed to play at the next level. With talented leaders like Jeffery Simmons, Qendarrion Barnett, Timorrius Conner, Deveon Ball, Bobby May and Ladaveon Smith, Shorter had confidence the Noxubee County football team could erase a 2-4 start and defend its Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A State title.
Buoyed by solid contributions from all of its seniors, Noxubee County closed the 2015 campaign on a 10-game winning streak and beat St. Stanislaus for the second-straight season to secure back-to-back Class 4A State championships.
This season, Shorter can only shake the hands of former players like May and Ball after games and hope a group of younger, less experienced Tigers can take a page from their predecessors.
Eric Clark Jr. hit D.J. Clayton with a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute, 32 seconds remaining to help Kemper County rally for a 26-21 victory against at Tiger Stadium.
“We are in the same spot we were in last year. Maybe they will take off,” Shorter said after his team fell to 2-4 following its last non-region game. “I don’t know what else to do as a coach. The coaches are doing the best we can do at practice. We have to make plays. We just don’t make plays.”
Clark Jr.’s touchdown pass helped Kemper County (5-1) beat Noxubee County for the second-straight season. Last year, the Wildcats beat the Tigers 29-28 in overtime. Noxubee County rebounded from that loss to roll through Class 4A, Region 4 play to become the school’s first football team to win back-to-back titles.
But Noxubee County’s latest loss is a little more troubling. Even though the Tigers aren’t completely healthy (Rashad Eades didn’t play the second half after scoring a touchdown on a 17-yard run in the first quarter), there was a noticeable difference in effort and execution in the two halves. In the first, the Tigers were crisper and more confident in building a 21-0 lead. In the second, Kemper County came out at a higher level and took the action to Noxubee County. The Tigers didn’t have a response and had only four first downs, including two by penalty.
“I am disappointed in this group because when they fall behind they tend to hold their heads down,” Shorter said. “That is out of our character. We have to fix it. I still have confidence in this team. I still believe in this team. We just have to fix it. We have to find a way to dig ourselves out of this hole, dig ourselves out of the way we’re playing.”
Despite uneven play in the second half, history suggested Noxubee County looked to be in good position late in the game. After an illegal substitution penalty gave Kemper a first-and-goal at the 6-yard line, the Wildcats were whistled for a false start. Antonio McCloud, Kalmorris Robinson, and Antonio Roby then combined on a sack of Clark Jr. for a 12-yard loss.
“We caught them at the right time,” Shorter said.
In past years, Noxubee County would have dialed up pressure like that again on second, third, and fourth downs to clam down on Kemper County. Instead, Clark Jr. found Clayton over the middle in between several defenders for what proved to be the game-winning score.
“We have to make a play on the back end,” Shorter said. “Maybe expectations were too high for this team. We are a little young at spots, but I am starting to think this team doesn’t have that fight and drive like teams we have had in the past.”
Kemper County coach Chris Jones said the adjustments his team made at halftime made the difference. He also admitted a spirited halftime talk that would have peeled “a lot of paint” off walls played a role in his team’s increased energy and intensity in the second half.
Jones said the Wildcats were playing too much zone in the first half that gave the Tigers too many open spaces. As a result, receivers were sitting down and making plays and quarterback Maliek Stallings had time to make throws. The decision to bring more pressure and to play man-to-man in the secondary made things tougher for the Tigers.
“I felt like we were hurting ourselves defensively,” Jones said. “We were lining up wrong and we weren’t doing the little things. We got some things and played some good football in the second half.
“I just felt our intensity level wasn’t where it needed to be. I hope we will learn from the game. We can’t start out slow against good teams. Noxubee County is a good ballclub. We can play ball, too, but we have to do what we need to do. We can’t hurt ourselves at the end of the day. We have to take this as a learning experience going into district play.”
Jones said there was no secret on the game-winning play. He credited Clark Jr. for settling down in the second half and Clayton, who has been playing at a high level all season. He praised the offensive line for giving Clark Jr. time to make the read and the throw.
“It was a post route. The middle of the field was open all day,” Jones said. “It was just a matter of us having the time. We called it a few times, but we couldn’t get to it. At the end of the day, it is not about me. It is about getting the ball to the guys who are going to make the plays. He has been doing it all year, so why not. Get the ball to the best player.”
Shorter said the Tigers try to follow a similar strategy but things are clicking like they need to because their playmakers aren’t making enough plays. Stallings, who is a sophomore, was 16 of 26 for 198 yards, but he had two interceptions. Overthrows and dropped passes made up at least half of the 10 incompletions. Kyziah Pruitt led the team with eight catches for 87 yards, but the Tigers couldn’t establish a consistent running game and finished with 72 yards on 34 carries.
Noxubee County also hurt itself with 14 penalties, including an ill-advised block in the back in the fourth quarter. That penalty helped flip field position and forced the Tigers to punt the ball back to the Wildcats prior to the game-winning drive.
A lack of execution adds to Shorter’s frustration. The Tigers had multiple low snaps that limited their effectiveness. They also looked disjointed on defense and had numerous plays where players ran on and off the field just before snaps. Kemper County’s up-tempo pace contributed to Noxubee County’s defensive changes, but Shorter said similar problems plagued the team in its first five games. He said he, his coaches, and the players have to find a way to fix them this week.
“We have playmakers but we are just not making plays,” Shorter said. “I know as a coaching staff we are putting are all in. We are trying to come up with the best game plan and it will work, but then we will stall. We get all of these dumb, stupid penalties and it is killing us. I don’t have an answer.
“We might have to ditch the spread that we are doing offensively and go to a more conservative offense and try to get the running game going and eat the clock up. We have to do something different because what we’re doing now is not working. It worked fine for a while and then we will stall.”
Shorter said the Tigers had a really good week of practice. In fact, he said the team had a physical week in which the players went after each other coming off a 47-6 loss to West Point. That was the largest margin of defeat for Noxubee County since a 42-0 loss to Meridian on Sept. 8, 2000.
“I think most of our problems are on defense,” Shorter said. “We are not very physical defensively. I have to play the kids I have. We are not physical up front. We are not physical at the linebacker position like we normally are. You can’t teach physical. They just have to have it. We just don’t seem to be very tough this year.”
That loss and the latest one raise questions about Noxubee County’s ability to maintain its 21-game winning streak in Region 4 play. The Tigers have went undefeated in region play the last four seasons. They have won three state titles in that span. Louisville (14-12 on Oct. 20, 2011) is the last team to beat Noxubee County in a region game.
Noxubee County will kick off Region 4 play Friday at Kosciusko.
“I thought the guys were going to respond,” Shorter said. “When a little adversity got on them, we did the same thing we did last week, we kind of tucked our tail instead of trying to claw. We have to make plays on the back end. I thought we had them where we wanted them. We got made the sack and then we gave up a play on the back end.
“Kemper County is a good football team, but we shouldn’t lose to Kemper County,” Shorter said. “We just have to get it together.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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