MACON — Defenses know what’s coming.
Sometimes, though, the execution is just too good to stop.
Anyone who watched the Louisville High School football team beat West Point in the Fall High School Jamboree in August at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium could tell the Wildcats have a special tandem in quarterback Wyatt Roberts and wide receiver C.J. Bates.
Roberts and Bates teamed to provide just enough magic moments Thursday night to help push Louisville to a 14-12 victory against Noxubee County in the C Spire Wireless “Bright Lights Football” game at Tiger Stadium.
“I told C.J. before the game he had to play tonight for us to win,” said Roberts, a sophomore. “They gave us man looks and we had to capitalize. They were trying to prevent the deep ball and we just tried to dump it between (the cornerback and the safety).”
Roberts showed he could execute throws like that when he hit Bates for three touchdowns in a 21-20 victory against West Point in two quarters in August. Bates helped his quarterback out in that debut, making at least one one-handed catch for the highlight reel. He added another Thursday night on the score that proved to be the game-winner.
Capitalizing on a fumble forced by Marcus Odom, Louisville took possession at Noxubee County’s 31 with 5 minutes, 49 seconds left in the second quarter. Seven seconds later, it was 14-0 after Roberts lofted a throw that went over the head of the cornerback and was quick enough to beat the converging safety in the right corner of the end zone.
“C.J. is our go-to guy, so we’re going to go to him,” said Louisville coach M.C. Miller, who used the same philosophy when he was at Noxubee County and had wide receivers like Patrick Patterson and Vincent Sanders at his disposal. In 2008, those two weapons helped Noxubee County win its first football state title. There’s no telling how far the combination of Roberts and Bates can take Louisville, but they proved Thursday night they are capable of standing up to the pressure and the bright lights to make plays at critical moments.
“C.J. just beat them when we needed him to beat them ,” Miller said. “A lot of it is timing. They were trying to hold him and to break up the timing, but he was good enough to get off and make something happen. He will make the big play when the time comes.”
Roberts knew a rivalry game like this one where the winner would have the inside track at first place in Class 4A, Region 4 would need a playmaker. That’s why he urged Bates to respond and then did everything he could to weather Noxubee County’s attacking defense and try to get the ball to Bates.
“We just had to go back to the board and draw some stuff up,” Roberts said. “They were coming. They have a great defense. We just had to keep doing what we were doing, and it paid off.”
Roberts said Noxubee County’s defense played with more intensity in the second half and gave him less and less time. Still, he was able to find Bates, who made a one-handed catch for a 21-yard gain early in the fourth quarter in what proved to be the Wildcats’ only sustained drive of the second half.
“He is a great playmaker,” Roberts said of Bates. “He did what he needed him to do tonight. He played a great game.”
Bates credited his coaches for believing in him. He said their self-confidence in him helps him play better, especially in big games where playmakers often have the final say.
“We knew they were going to throw the fade ball to him,” Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said. “We knew it and he still made some great catches on third-and-long. We pressed them and had a safety over the top and he still caught the ball. I have to give coach (David) Boykin, the offensive coordinator, credit. They threw the ball in a spot that the safety probably couldn’t get.”
Noxubee County dialed up its defensive pressure in the second half and limited the time Roberts had to find Bates. By then, though, Roberts and Bates had worked just enough magic and relied on their defense to bring it home.
“Our defense did an amazing job,” Roberts said. “They kept us in the game the whole night. A ton of credit goes to them.”
Credit also goes to Roberts and Bates for executing in a hostile environment. Miller said it was just a matter of executing the game plan and limiting mistakes like the coaches had preached for the past two or three weeks.
Roberts and Bates must have been listening.
“I tell him, ‘Throw it up and give me a chance and anything can happen,'” Bates said. “He gives me a chance and we have that connection and we win together.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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