MACON — One loss isn’t going to shake Tyrone Shorter’s confidence in his team, even one he admits made him “sick” Sunday.
Two days after watching the Noxubee County High School football team open the season with a 17-0 loss to Starkville, Shorter and his assistant coaches watched the film of the game again.
Needless to say, the proceedings didn’t go down any easier the second time.
“We made so many mistakes starting four sophomores on offense,” Shorter said. “We only had three seniors on offense. We knew we were going to have some mistakes and growing pains with this group, but this group is a talented group.
“To get into the red zone as many times as we did and not get anything out of it is tough. We told the kids, it easily could have been different. We thought we could have scored at least four touchdowns. Not to take anything away from Starkville and their defense because they did a great job. But if we had executed, it was maybe one block here or going down when you were supposed to or going the wrong way.”
But Shorter and the Tigers were back at work Monday for an informative film session. As big as the 17-point margin of defeat was, Shorter admitted the Tigers didn’t do them any favors against an experienced and opportunistic group of Yellow Jackets.
Things don’t figure to get an easier for the defending Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A state champions. At 7 p.m. Friday, Noxubee County will play host to its second Class 6A opponent, Columbus. The game is the second in a five-game non-conference slate that also features Class 3A favorite Louisville, Class 3A power Aberdeen, and Class 5A favorite West Point.
Shorter doesn’t want to look that far ahead, but he said in training camp that Noxubee County could suffer its share of lumps in the first five games, especially as it tries to figure out how to replace the loss of 23 seniors from last season’s 16-0 squad.
“One thing I was afraid of was their morale and getting down after going 16-0,” Shorter said. “This group seemed like they had so much to prove. to keep the winning streak going, but I told them it is just one game and one game doesn’t define our season.”
Instead, Shorter stressed to his players that the season will be defined by how well the Tigers learn the lessons from the first game and get better every week. With so many young and inexperienced players, Shorter knows the progress will be slow at times this season, but he feels the gauntlet the team is going through at the beginning of the season will sharpen the resolve for late in the season.
“There wasn’t a lot of fussing or hollering at them. We just didn’t execute when we needed to,” Shorter said. “We had a 17-play drive after they scored and got to the 2-yard line and one block here or there made us take a loss. One of the sophomores just didn’t go down when he was supposed to and their tackle came free and we went from first-and-goal from the 2 to second-and-goal from the 8. As long as we execute and get better, I think we’ll be fine.”
Shorter felt a turnover on the opening possession helped gave Starkville a golden opportunity in the first quarter. He said his defensive back was in position to make a play on the ball on the Yellow Jackets’ first touchdown. He said another miscommunication in the secondary contributed to another score. With an experienced team, Shorter and his assistant coaches might have questioned the Tigers’ potential and challenged them a little harder in practice. With this team, Shorter said the key for the coaches is finding the best positions to put the players and to do everything they can to help them be successful. It’s not necessarily a kinder and gentler approach, but it is one he feels will foster a learning environment that helps all of the Tigers mature quickly.
“I told the coaches Sunday we are not going to use our youth as an excuse, but we want to show these guys where they made mistakes,” Shorter said. “The only thing I want from these kids is to come out this week and play a little bit smarter, a little but more aggressive and physical than we did last week. I want the kids to give us a chance by not turning the ball over.
“I was trying to prepare them for something like this to happen before it happened. Maybe I jinxed myself by talking about it all last week. I told the guys we’re going to have some adversity and how are you going to respond to it. That’s what we were trying to preach to the guys before the game. Now, since we made those mistakes in the game, adversity has hit us. … Now how are you going to respond from the adversity.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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