MACON — Kyziah Pruitt knows what it is like to be close.
A deep pass down the middle from Maliek Stallings in the second quarter nearly led Pruitt all the way to pay dirt. Unfortunately, Pruitt couldn’t break free from a defender and had to settle for a 47-yard gain that moved the Noxubee County High School football team 4 yards from another score.
Four plays later, Stallings delivered his fourth and final touchdown pass to Jakerrius Oliver to help push Noxubee County to a 41-7 victory against Houston in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 4 game at Tiger Stadium.
While the victory helped Noxubee County (7-4, 5-0 region) secure its fifth-straight Region 4 title and extended its winning streak in region games to 26, it was just another step on a journey Pruitt hopes will result in two more championships.
“The last two weeks is the first time we have put almost a full game together,” Pruitt said.
The victory secured Noxubee County a date against Indianola Gentry at 7 p.m. Friday in Macon in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. The Tigers will need five more victories to complete a run to a third-straight state championship.
That was the goal at the start of the season for a new group of Tigers. Instead of leaders like seniors Jeffery Simmons, Qendarrion Barnett, Deveon Ball, Timorrius Conner, and Ladaveon Smith, Noxubee County has come to rely on sophomores like Stallings and Pruitt. The result has been an up-and-down season — much like the 2015 regular season — in which the Tigers lost four games in non-conference action and adjusted to having new and less experienced players in bigger roles.
Some, like Stallings and Pruitt, who missed one game due to injury, have had more success than others. But both players haven’t been immune to the inconsistent play that has hampered the Tigers. On Friday, things appeared to click a little more, as Stallings was 12 of 18 for 159 yards and Pruitt had seven catches for 107 yards.
“I knew what kind of team we were in the Starkville week,” Pruitt said referring to a 24-21 loss to reigning Class 6A State champion Starkville in the season opener on Aug. 19. “I feel we can compete with anybody. The coaches just want to see more effort out of us and see us more committed. (Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter) calls us immature at times, and he is right. We have to step up, all of us as a team, and get serious about it because we are getting to the playoffs and everything has to be on point.”
Noxubee County used one of its more complete efforts to get closer to that level of execution. Stallings hit Kymbotric Mason with touchdown passes of 10 and 23 yards. He also connected with Pruitt on a 25-yard scoring pass.
Ty’Quintin Ramsey added an 11-yard touchdown run, while Jataquist Sherrod capped the scoring in the third quarter with a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Noxubee County ‘s defense also rebounded from giving up 33 points to Caledonia last week and limited Houston (8-3, 3-2) to 49 yards rushing and 47 total yards. The teams played with a running clock in the second half after Noxubee County built a 34-7 halftime lead.
Shorter said the Tigers still have things to fix, especially when it comes to penalties. A week after committing 19 in a 47-33 victory against Caledonia, Noxubee County committed 12 more against Houston. None of the mistakes was costly, but “silly” penalties, as Shorter calls them, could hurt the Tigers in the postseason.
“A lot of these juniors and sophomores have been on the last two championship teams, so they know how it feels,” Shorter said. “They had team meetings this past week and I see where they are. The guys were talking about seniors in the past and how they did things, so I feel like they see the light and know what we have to do.”
Shorter said seniors like Kalmorris Robinson are stepping up and starting to be the leaders he expects them to be. He is confident Noxubee County has the ability to get back to Starkville to play for another state title if it stops hurting itself with penalties and turnovers.
“We have all of the tools in the world,” Shorter said. “I don’t think anybody we play can really stop us. We just have to put it together and be a mature football team.”
Pruitt, who also plays in the secondary with Mason when needed, agrees. He said the Tigers showed some of that maturity after losing senior wide receiver Rashad Eades to an injury. As a result, he said he and the rest of the receivers had to raise their level of play to offset the loss of a key contributor.
Pruitt smiled and said he is doing “OK” and that he can do better when asked how he felt he has taken on a bigger role. He agrees with Stallings that the Tigers have the weapons to score 40 or more points every week. He said the ups and downs have put the team in a position to play its best football in the final two months of the season.
“I feel like we are OK,” Pruitt said. “We are in a good spot. We just have to come out in practice Monday and work hard all week. If we do that, everything should go according to plan.”
Stallings worked through a slow start that saw him overthrow an open receiver on the first possession and deliver a ball late to Pruitt on a 7-yard gain on the Tigers’ third possession. Shorter inserted junior Armoni Clark at quarterback to give Stallings a break. Stallings returned on the next drive and helped spark a 27-point second quarter that helped the Tigers pull away.
“When I come out, it is all about me seeing what the defense is doing so when I get back in I can play better,” Stallings said. “That was the case tonight. It was just trying to do things too fast.”
Stallings said the Tigers are starting to click more, which could be a dangerous sign for opponents. He said maintaining that focus in practice will be crucial because the team plays well on Friday nights after a good week of practice.
Sherrod, a senior, echoed those sentiments. As one of the team’s most experienced players, Sherrod said the signs he sees from the Tigers’ defense are encouraging.
“We beat the offense every Wednesday,” Sherrod said. “It is like Friday Night Live every Wednesday. They make us better. We have the best receivers in the state. We have the best receivers in the nation.”
Sherrod feels the defense has gotten better each week, even if the points allowed don’t compare to previous defenses. He said “simple mistakes” have hampered the defense, but he feels repetitions against the Tigers’ first-team offense have helped the defense gain confidence.
Pruitt isn’t sure if Noxubee County’s group of receivers has reached the point where it is the best in the nation, but he knows the potential is there for the entire team. Efforts like the Tigers delivered against the Hilltoppers have him believing they are almost there.
“It is going to take everybody being committed,” Pruitt said. “It is going to take everybody being on the same page and rolling. If everybody isn’t on the same page, it is going to hurt us when somebody slacks off.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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