MACON — Dr. Shorter will see you now.
After fighting for the past few weeks to get all of his players healthy, Noxubee County High School football coach Tyrone Shorter finally feels his team is back to 100 percent. The return to health comes at just about the perfect time, as Noxubee County will play host to Houston in its Class 4A, Region 4 regular-season finale.
“We are where we want to be, getting the kids healthy and approaching the playoffs,” Shorter said. “We call the playoffs another season. It is going to be an intense season. It is going to be a pressure season because if you have a bad game, it might be all over.”
The Tigers (8-2, 4-0 region) have clinched first place in the region and a home playoff game in the first round of the Class 4A North State playoffs. The Hilltoppers (5-5, 2-2) are tied with Caledonia and need a victory to secure a spot in the playoffs. A loss by Houston and a victory by Leake Central against Caledonia on Friday night will force a three-way tie behind Noxubee County and Kosciusko in the region standings. Since Caledonia defeated Houston and Houston beat Leake Central, the tiebreaker would come down to point differential.
While Shorter will be interested to see how that storyline plays out, he is more focused on his squad as it prepares to make a postseason run. He said he likely will play two defensive linemen who will return from being out two and three weeks, respectively. He also said he likely will limit the playing time of his starters to keep them healthy for next week.
Last week in a 42-14 victory against Caledonia, Shorter said his second team played the second half after the first string built a 35-0 lead. Following a stretch of six tough non-conference games and facing Kosciusko and Leake Central in the first two region games, Noxubee County has hit its stride in the past few weeks. Shorter said he likes how junior quarterback Timorrius Conner is running the offense. He also feels the offensive line has found its legs and has helped the offense find a balance between the run and the pass.
The missing ingredient has been the team’s health. While the offense has remained fairly healthy, the defense has had its share of players miss time. With everyone back, Shorter is managing his team’s health by telling his players to take cold medicine to help ward off the effects of flu season. He also is telling them to eat right, to wear warm clothes in colder weather, especially after practice, and to get plenty of rest so all 74 players can contribute to the title run.
“Our kids came out Friday and were focused,” Shorter said. “The kids played phenomenal in all three phases of the game. They put it away early.”
Shorter said the “little things” like false start penalties and blocking in the back penalties and special teams play will be crucial as the team moves forward. He said penalties have been a concern for most of the season, but he said the Tigers cut down on their mistakes last week against the Confederates. He hopes that mentality will continue particularly after last season, when turnovers played a huge role in a 9-0 loss to Lafayette in the North State playoffs.
This season, Shorter feels that loss has motivated his team because it felt it should have played for a state title. Now that the Tigers are a year older and are finally healthy, Shorter feels it is time for Noxubee County to put everything together to make a run at the school’s third state championship.
“I think we have our special teams together,” Shorter said. “We are going to put our best 11 players on special teams. We were saving them early, but we are going to put our best 11 people on special teams because once you get into the playoffs, there is no use in saving them. … We have been practicing that the past few weeks. We haven’t been using it, but I think it is really going to help us.
“Another thing I have been talking to our kids about is how they approach these last few weeks and the playoffs. Everything has to change. Their mind-set has to change. Their level of play has to change. They have to leave everything on the field. They have to focus on nothing but that game and then go to the next game. We have to turn it up a notch.”
Shorter said the same applies for the coaches. He warned the players that he will be different next week because one mistake can mean the end of the season. For a coach who believes this is his team’s time, he isn’t ready for this season to end without a chance at a state title.
“I feel really, really good about it because we can score this year,” Shorter said. “We can put up some points and we have so many weapons offensively. The way our defense is playing, man, I am excited about the playoffs starting.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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