MACON — Coming off of two-straight losses to tough competition, Noxubee County High School football coach Tyrone Shorter and the Tigers (2-3) looked to avoid the program’s first three-game losing streak since 2006.
Standing in the way was the West Point Green Wave (3-1), who were looking for their third-straight victory against the Tigers.
Led by senior defensive lineman Jeffrey Simmons, the Tigers’ defense held strong for a majority of the game, allowing only 109 passing yards. However, West Point rushed for 148 yards.
Simmons lined up against senior offensive tackle Scott Lashley for a majority of his snaps on defense, which is something Shorter had originally planned to do.
“On film, we saw them running behind (Lashley) a lot,” Shorter said. “The West Point coaches knew they were not going to get too much over there with (Simmons), so they started running away from him.”
The game was a defensive battle. It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter that West Point made plays to put the game out of reach en route to a 21-6 victory.
The Tigers struck first in the second quarter on a 28-yard pass from Timorrius Conner to Kymobtric Mason. Conner was 19 of 34 for 215 yards. He also threw an interception.
While the Tigers found ways to make plays in the passing game, the running game was unable to get going. Noxubee finished with 58 yards on 26 attempts.
“We came out and tried to run the ball, but it didn’t work,” said Noxubee County running back / wide receiver Ladaveon Smith, who led the Tigers in receiving with nine catches for 107 yards. “We passed the ball to try to get something going.”
On West Point’s first play following the Tigers’ score, junior quarterback Dmarrio Edwards hit Jeffrey Drake for a 77-yard touchdown pass.
West Point maintained its 7-6 lead until late in the fourth quarter, when it scored twice in a little more than a minute.
While the defense held its own, the Tigers’ offense struggled to capitalize on drives deep in West Point territory.
“We didn’t make enough big plays on offense,” Conner said.
Noxubee County will travel to DeKalb on Sept. 25 to face Kemper County in its final non-district game before it will open district play Oct. 2 against Kosciusko. Shorter hopes the Tigers will be able to correct their problems running the ball before then.
“We have to be able to run the football. I think that is what is hurting us the most,” Shorter said.
Said Conner, “We need to fix everything before district play starts. When district play starts, we won’t stop.”
Defensively, the Tigers only allowed 257 yards and only eight first downs. They also picked up an interception.
“We just need to communicate well on defense,” Conner said.
In addition to improving the running game, Shorter wants the Tigers to capitalize on drives more often. Last week against Meridian, the Tigers failed to score from the 3-yard line.
“We had some good drives going, but we just stalled,” Shorter said. He then added, “We practiced so hard and tried to correct the offense, but we just found a way to stall our drives.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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