MACON — Tyrone Shorter knows what he is talking about when he says the playoffs are the Noxubee County High School football team’s time of the year.
When your program has won four state championships in the last nine seasons, it’s a lot easier for your players to re-focus for the one-and-done part of the campaign.
In the last 10 seasons, Noxubee County is 78-7 in the last three months of the season. Noxubee County’s success in October and November has resulted in back-to-back Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A State titles, as well as championships in 2012 and 2008.
Last week, Noxubee County started its annual pilgrimage to a state title with a 47-0 victory against Indianola Gentry. Noxubee County (8-4) will be back at home at Tiger Stadium at 7 tonight to play host to Senatobia (8-3) in the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs.
“We were focused in the first round,” Shorter said. “These kids know what time of the year it is now. We had a great week of practice last week. Beside the slow start, I think the kids played really, really well.”
Senatobia, which is coached by former Starkville High defensive coordinator Brooks Oakley, comes in as the No. 2 seed out of Region 2. A loss to Lafayette in the regular season dropped Senatobia to the No. 2 seed.
The teams last met in 2014, when Noxubee County earned a 35-0 victory in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. That victory is part of a 25-game winning streak the Tigers are riding in October, November, and December. Lafayette defeated Noxubee County 9-0 on Nov. 22, 2013.
A big chunk of Noxubee County’s success in the last three months of seasons has come in Region 4 play, where it has won five-straight titles and 26-straight games dating back to a 14-12 loss to Louisville on Oct. 20, 2011.
Shorter hopes Noxubee County can find a way to start quicker, which is a problem that has plagued the team. He said Gentry started the game on a long drive and it took time for Noxubee County to figure out what it needed to do on defense. Once the Tigers regained their focus, it was smooth sailing. He said Noxubee County will need that focus against a Senatobia team that comes in after a 34-15 victory against Itawamba Agricultural High.
Shorter said the game figures to present an even tougher challenge because Oakley coached against Noxubee County when he was at Starkville. He hopes the Tigers will be able to combat Oakley’s knowledge with the same kind of effort they showed this week in practice.
“I am anxious to see them play because we got after it this week,” Shorter said. “We were having fun, and they didn’t want to end practice.”
Shorter was even more excited to hear seniors like Kalmorris Robinson, Kymbotric Mason, Antonio Roby, and Tyler Dooley talk more and motivate their teammates. He said the seniors have been meeting with their teammates to make sure everyone is on the same page.
“Since the playoff started, I have heard Tyler Dooley talk more than I have heard from him in three years,” Shorter said. “It makes you feel good because those guys are on it. If a receiver drops a ball in practice, they are on him. If they miss a block, they talk it over. This is the team I have been looking for all year.”
That communication is crucial because Shorter has pleaded and prodded his players, especially the upperclassmen, to speak up and to be bigger leaders. Now that he is seeing more of that, Shorter feels even more confident as Noxubee County settles into its time of the year and prepares for another long run.
“They say they are turnt up,” Shorter said. “They keep using those words. We have to turn it up a level. That is a good sign. You have seniors stepping up and rallying the team and the defense together. You have everybody playing at that level. It is like a different team since the playoff started. They are running around and hustling more. It is that time. It is November.”
As history has shown, Noxubee County has a knack for turning success in November into championships in December. For a young team looking to make its mark in 2016, Shorter hopes the increased communication and leadership from the seniors is the boost his team needs.
“They want to leave a championship banner with their class on it,” Shorter said. “They have everybody working hard. It seems like they are more focused since the playoffs have started.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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