MACON — If history does in fact repeat, the Noxubee County High School football team could be primed to turn a slow start into a fast finish.
Last season, injuries hit the reigning Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A State champions hard and played a big part in the team’s 2-4 start to the season. The non-conference slate was littered with the usual tests against higher classification teams, but Noxubee County wasn’t able to produce at levels of previous teams in losses to Aledo (Texas), Meridian, West Point, and Kemper County.
This season, a younger group of Tigers appear to be following a similar script.
Noxubee County split games against Class 6A Starkville and Columbus to open the season before rolling past Class 3A Forest. But losses to Meridian, West Point, and Kemper County followed that left Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter scratching his head to get his players back on track.
A 41-7 victory against Houston last week provided ample evidence Noxubee County is back on track. The win stretched the Tigers’ winning streak to 26 in Class 4A, Region 4 games and helped it clinch the program’s fifth-straight region title. As a result, Noxubee County (7-4) wrapped up the top seed in region 4 and earned the right to play host to Indianola Gentry (1-9) at 7 tonight at Tiger Stadium.
“I like where we are,” Shorter said. “I think the defense played really well. We have to get better in the special teams. We muffed two punts, but I thought the defense had a really solid game. Our defensive line played really well, as did our linebackers and our secondary.
“This team was ready to play four quarters. That is where we want to be at this point in the season.”
Noxubee County’s countdown to an unprecedented third-straight title in Class 4A needs five more victories. The first one could come tonight against Gentry, which defeated Yazoo City 18-12 on Oct. 21 to earn the No. 4 seed from Region 3.
It’s fitting that Noxubee County is coming off a game against Houston because it epitomized the team’s journey to this point. The Tigers didn’t click on offense in their first two drives, only to see quarterback Maliek Stallings regroup to throw four touchdowns passes. The defense, which has had its struggles stopping the run, appeared to be more aggressive and to have a swagger like some of the program’s best defenses in recent memory.
The Tigers don;t have any Division I standouts like Jeffery Simmons or Qendarrion Barnett, but Shorter said that unit is coming together at just the right time.
But Shorter said the Tigers can’t afford to look ahead. He said focus will be a key to ensure the offense can continue to click and the defense can keep coming together.
“We are not a selfish football team,” Shorter said. “I like where the team is and where we are headed. This team deserves this championship. It is important for us to play the first-round playoff game at home.
“We are in the same situation we were in last year. It is up to us because we have all of the tools to get back to the state championship game. We just have to put it together.”
Senior cornerback Jataquist Sherrod had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown against Houston. He acknowledged the Tigers had their ups and downs on defense earlier in the season, but he said they are finding their stride at the time of the year that has come to be known as “Tiger Time” due to the program’s recent championship success.
“The more we do it, the more we become accustomed to it,” Sherrod said. “Our defense can’t be like last year’s team, so we had to better ourselves in our own way so we can keep getting better each game.”
The same can be said about the Tigers’ offense. Shorter said he and his offensive coaches will continue to rotate Stallings and junior Armoni Clark at quarterback. Both players have pushed each other to get better, and each one is capable of running or throwing the football in an offense Shorter feels is capable of scoring 40 points a game.
“I feel good,” Stallings said. “I feel I have grown as a player and as a team leader. I am just ready to get into the playoff games.
“I also feel the team has grown. At the beginning of the season, we had a lot of playing going on. They cracked down on us, and our younger players have grown up.”
Shorter said the Tigers plan on playing Clark “a lot.” He said the team, not an individual, will hold the championship trophy if it is blessed to reach that goal next month at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium. The road to Starkville could go through teams like Itawamba Agricultural, Greenwood, Louisville, and Lafayette — all familiar foes from past years.
That should be fine with Noxubee County, which appears ready to follow a familiar path to a destination that it has made its own.
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.