MACON — Tyrone Shorter knows how this story plays out.
Regardless of classification, the Noxubee County High School football team hasn’t shied away from playing the state’s best teams. Since he replaced M.C. Miller as the head coach in 2010, Shorter has taken that notion to the next degree by filling the Tigers’ schedule with local rivals — West Point, Starkville, Columbus, New Hope — that play in higher classifications in the Mississippi High School Activities Association — as well as state powers like Meridian and Kemper County and regional powers from the states of Alabama and Texas.
Shorter’s thinking is the tests against the best teams he can find will help prepare his team for the rigors of a Class 4A, Region 4 schedule and a march to a state title game. The mind-set has enabled Noxubee County to overcome injuries, mistakes, youth, and inexperience and win state championships the last two seasons and in three of the last four years.
That’s why Shorter isn’t concerned about the Tigers’ 2-2 start. In fact, Noxubee County is in the same position it was in last season as it prepares to face West Point at 7 p.m. Friday in another installment of the Tigers’ non-conference rivalry series. A year ago, Noxubee County lost four in a row, including setbacks to West Point and Kemper County, en route to a 2-4 start. The Tigers rebounded, though, to win their final 10 games. Noxubee County capped the run by beating St. Stanislaus for the second-consecutive season for the Class 4A State title at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Even though his team is coming off a 27-19 loss to Class 6A Meridian in Macon, Shorter feels that game, much like a season-opening 24-21 loss to Class 6A Starkville, could have turned on a few plays and helped his team to a 4-0 start.
“Defensively, I thought we played really great,” Shorter said. “When you’re going against a really good 6A school like Meridian, but the plays that they made really didn’t hurt us. I thought we played well enough to win the game defensively. We made some progress offensively, but we still are turning the ball over too much.”
Shorter said an interception in the first quarter set Meridian up for a touchdown. He said a fumble allowed Meridian to have a scoop and score that put Noxubee County in a 21-7 hole. Back-to-back scores, including an interception return for a touchdown, put the Tigers in position to tie the game. But Shorter said little mistakes like not running a route long enough to ensure a first down hurt the Tigers in their latest loss.
Still, even with two tough opponents remaining prior to region play, Shorter feels good about his team.
“I feel good about where we are because we have played quality competition and I feel like we should be 4-0,” Shorter said. “Not taking anything from Starkville or Meridian, but if you take a play away here or a play away there or take away a mistake here or there, we easily could be 4-0.”
Shorter’s approach to assembling such a challenging schedule is that the tough games will help the Tigers work the mistakes out of their system. He said Tuesday he doesn’t believe Noxubee County will continue to make mistakes like committing two 15-yard penalties that aided a Meridian scoring drive as it moves forward or making the wrong reads on pass plays. He likes how his players have responded after the games and at practice following the games because he senses a feeling they believe the team allowed one to slip away. That was the case against Meridian, Shorter said, as turnovers and a lack of execution on offense prevented the Tigers from coming all of the way back.
“I like where we are. I like this football team because we can play with the best of them,” Shorter said. “Despite the mistakes we’re making offensively, we had chances in both losses to win at the end. We didn’t finish. We have been in the ballgames against the big schools. Now, we just have to finish.”
Shorter said he isn’t going to allow his players to get down because the success in recent years has cemented a championship mentality that has been handed down from class to class. He said he isn’t going to let calls by the officials distract the team from its goal of getting back to the state title game, which will be played this season at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.
A year ago, the close calls and injuries Noxubee County experienced in its losses have prepared it for this season. Shorter feels senior running back Ty’Quintin Ramsey is close to returning from an injury, which will bolster an already deep backfield of weapons. He also likes the potential of sophomore quarterback Maliek Stallings, even after an effort Friday night in which he didn’t play as well as he did in the first three games. Until the Tigers are 100 percent healthy, Shorter said the team will work on attention to detail so it can be primed for its Region 4 opener Sept. 30 at Kosciusko.
“A lot of people say I am crazy and I am a fool for playing all these 6A schools, but that is my strategy,” Shorter said. “It has been working for us since I have been doing this, so we are just going to hold our breath and hope we can stay injury free and we will be battle tested. Once we hit division play and the playoffs, there won’t be anything this team hasn’t seen.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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