MACON — Tyrone Shorter is excited.
You might not think the Noxubee County High School football coach would be feeling so chipper considering his team is still fighting plenty of injuries.
But the good vibe Shorter feels stems from the fact that the Tigers have faced the setbacks and answered every challenge, including a win against two-time defending Class 5A state champion West Point without their starting quarterback and one of their running backs.
And while the Tigers’ 5-1 start looks nice on paper, Shorter knows it won’t mean anything if his team doesn’t take care of the more important business that will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it plays at Kosciusko in its Class 4A, Region 4 opener.
“I think the kids are ready for the district,” Shorter said. “We had some kids at practice yesterday say, ‘These are the games that matter.’ The kids know the importance of having the home-field advantage.”
Shorter said running back Ladarrell Hunt won’t play Friday night and that quarterback Deangelo Ballard is “getting close” to playing. He said Hunt has been cleared but he will be held out. He said the goal is to have them ready next week or the following week. He said defensive lineman Dylan Bradley and wide receiver Charles Hughes will be game-time decisions.
Injuries like those would decimate most teams, but Shorter’s team has plenty of depth. He praised the play of senior Kamal Chamberlain, who has moved from wide receiver to quarterback. He also hopes the second-string and younger players can continue to pick up the slack until all of the injured players get back on the field.
“Our first part of the schedule was rough,” Shorter said. “We are where we want to be, but we are kind of banged up. Hopefully, we can rest some of them in spots.”
Shorter also will try to keep all of the players focused. He said much of the talk in town has turned to Noxubee County’s “Y’all vs. Us” game against Louisville on Oct. 20 in Macon. Many people consider that game as the one that will determine which team takes the region title.
Unfortunately, Noxubee County has three games before that one, and Shorter admitted it will be a challenge to keep his players from looking ahead to their rivalry game against the Wildcats, who are led by former Noxubee County head coach M.C. Miller.
Last week, Shorter said his players took Kemper County a little too lightly. As a result, the game was tied at 18 in the third quarter. But the Tigers used a defensive score and a special teams score on a fake punt to pull away and win their fourth game in a row.
This week, Noxubee County will try for its fifth straight victory in the series. The Tigers have won the past three meetings by shutout. Still, Shorter doesn’t want his players to get overconfident because Kosciusko is 0-6.
“The first six games, we want to win them, but that is why we play those games, to be ready for district play,” Shorter said. “The first part of the season is over. Every game you play now counts. These are the ones that really matter. They understand that.”
The top two teams in the district will earn the right to play host to first-round playoff games.
Noxubee County overcame similar injuries last season and advanced all of the way to the Class 4A North State title game. Shorter believes this year’s team has the potential to get back to that spot — and to get back to Jackson — provided everyone can get back on the field. He hopes the injuries have helped the players’ focus and made them tougher for what they will face the rest of the season.
“You never know. Anybody might go down, so you have to be prepared,” Shorter said. “Everybody wants to play. One good thing about playing here and having the tradition we have is that everybody wants to get on the field, so it is not hard to get guys ready to go. We have had our No. 2s step up, and we feel good about our sophomore class. Those guys come in, play hard, and are ready for their opportunities.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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