STARKVILLE — Tyrone Shorter was frustrated.
The Noxubee County High School football coach couldn’t help think his team had let one slip away from a rival. After all, Noxubee County led West Point 19-14 at halftime and appeared to be positioned for a victory in one of its biggest games of the year. Unfortunately, the Tigers’ offense stalled, which enabled the Green Wave to wear down Shorter’s defense to the tune of 19 unanswered points that pushed West Point to a 33-19 victory on Sept. 19 in West Point.
“I thought our kids did a great job on the goal line,” Shorter said after the game. “We stopped them and had the momentum going and then turned around and threw an interception and gave it right back to them. Defensively, I thought our kids played hard. We had a great defensive game plan. We played hard. I thought we stayed on the field too long. We had too any three and outs. It kind of wore us out at the end.”
Shorter also praised West Point’s defense and the pressure it brought against junior quarterback Timorrius Conner, but he said Conner held the ball too long and might have been hurting a little bit after he took a hit late in the second quarter, even if he didn’t wanted to acknowledge it.
“They ran the same plays the did in the first half,” Shorter said. “We knew exactly what they were going to do and we just couldn’t stop it. We just got tired. I told our coaches at halftime we have to get something going offensively. If we don’t we’re going to be in trouble. We didn’t do that. We had too many three and outs, three and out, three and out. They just wore our defense out.”
Two and a half months later, Shorter was anything but frustrated as he posed for pictures nearly 20 minutes following his team’s 48-27 victory against St. Stanislaus in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A state title game at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium.
Although his defense allowed 259 yards and three touchdowns to quarterback Myles Brennan, the Tigers contained the Rock-a-Chaws’ screen passing attack and used their speed and athleticism to harass the sophomore. A blocked punt by Jeffery Simmons that was recovered by Kevorkian Brewer in the end zone in the first quarter set the tone for Noxubee County.
The biggest growth might have been on the other side of the football, where Conner threw for 340 yards and had touchdowns to four receivers. The Tigers needed their passing attack to click because they averaged only 2.8 yards per carry and were limited to 111 yards rushing.
“It feels good,” Shorter said. “Every state championship feels a little different, but I am so happy for these kids, especially our seniors. They have worked so extremely hard. At the beginning of the year, we lost to Starkville and everybody counted us out and everybody put us down, but these guys came to work and came to practice every day and they just worked hard. They weren’t going to be denied.”
For its accomplishments, the Noxubee County High football team is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
Shorter couldn’t help but acknowledge a non-region schedule that includes games against Starkville, a 51-19 loss, Columbus, Louisville, Aberdeen, West Point, and Charleston. He could have opted to have a bye week, but the opportunity to play Charleston, a Class 3A power, came late, so he jumped at it. Noxubee County suffered its share of injuries and bumps and bruises going 4-2 to open the season. But the 26-16 win against Charleston, in which Noxubee County scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to rally, kicked off what wound up being an 11-game winning streak to end the season.
The Tigers had their share of heroes, too. From junior center Bobby May, who anchored the offensive line and who guided the train, better known as the Tigers’ offense. He epitomized Noxubee County’s growth and maturity, as juniors on the team learned to be more vocal and hold teammates accountable.
Noxubee County also had an underappreciated group of receivers. None of the players had eye-popping individual statistics like some of the receivers from St. Stanislaus, but Ladaveon Smith, Kymbotric Mason, and Daveon Ball had touchdown catches in the title game. Tamarcus Silvers had four catches, too, and Simmons, who did everything but carry the water bottles and punt, had a 17-yard touchdown catch in a packed day of work.
“I thought they did a great job of understanding the coverages,” Shorter said. “The coaches did a great job of taking what they were giving us. They were on point tonight. I thought we were going to run the ball a little bit better, but they were giving us the underneath stuff, so we took it. They did a great job of catching some 5-yard slants and breaking some tackles. They are some big strong guys, and they did exactly what we expected them to do.”
The defense also answered the call. All season, Shorter praised the play of senior cornerbacks Mahlon Robinson and Wesley Bush. The ability of Robinson and Bush to play man-to-man on the corners enabled the Tigers to play aggressively and bring pressure that most teams couldn’t handle. Even though Brennan used a lot of quick-hitters Saturday night, Noxubee County still had six quarterback hurries and two sacks. It also had five pass breakups. Bush led the team with 13 tackles (nine solo), while Robinson had 10 tackles (eight) and Quendarrion Barnett had eight tackles. Safeties Daveon Ball and Jataquist Sherrod also had six and five tackles, respectively.
Simmons, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior defensive end, was his usual disruptive self. He had six tackles, half a sack, half a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, the blocked punt, which he nearly recovered, and two quarterback hurries. He also served as a lead blocker when the Tigers lined up three “running backs” in the I-formation.
“He is just an incredible football player,” Shorter said. “He has that high football IQ. We can put him anywhere. I believe that kid can play all 11 positions on offense and all 11 positions on defense. We moved him around a lot defensively because they kept running away from him. We also used him some in the backfield and at tight end. He is just an unbelievable athlete. The sky is the limit for that kid.
“I really think he is a NFL player. I think he will play football on Sundays one day if he stays grounded and stay humble and continues to do the right things.”
The scary thing is Noxubee County returns many of the key pieces to the 2014 championship puzzle. Continued development from Conner and junior running back Shunessy Sherrod, who had to leave the title game due to an injury, and the wide receivers should give the Tigers a chance to be even better on offense. With a year to grow, Simmons could emerge as an even more vocal presence and someone who commands double- and triple teams. That would create plenty of gaps up front for a defense that has a knack for being a swarming, opportunistic group.
The key will be staying focused. After beat St. Stanislaus, Simmons answered questions about his future for about 10 minutes as Oxford High players practiced around him. Simmons already has received plenty of college offers, including ones from Mississippi State and Ole Miss, but once his senior year arrives he will be focused on ending his high school career with another championship. Simmons said he hopes to follow the same plan the team had leading up to this season.
“I know every single day this summer, the defensive and offensive lines worked together and worked our butts off,” Simmons said.
If Simmons and other team leaders set the tone, don’t get Shorter to get frustrated very often in 2015.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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