HOUSTON — Protect the quarterback is an adage as old as the game of football.
Quincy Stokes has to be old school. The Noxubee County High School senior offensive lineman eschews the contemporary accessories so many players make part of their game day wardrobe. Stokes prefers to lace them up and go, shirts untucked regardless of their color.
But when it is time to protect Timorrius Conner, Stokes is your man. That’s why when the Noxubee County faithful saw Conner reach for his knee after scoring on a 1-yard run Friday night against Houston, Stokes jumped into action. The 5-foot-8, 305-pound left guard scooped up the 5-10, 165-pound Conner and carried him to the sideline.
“He is pretty heavy,” Stokes said. “When we got in and scored, he said he was cramping but he went for his knee. I didn’t like that, so I immediately just got him up, lifted him up, and carried him to the sideline.”
Stokes’ carry provided a lighter moment late in Noxubee County’s 56-26 victory in the third round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A playoffs at Hilltopper Field.
But Stokes’ willingness to care for his quarterback and Noxubee County’s response to a more serious sequence earlier in the game showed it finally might be putting the pieces together to make a last push toward history.
The next step will come at 7 p.m. Friday, when Noxubee County (10-4), the Region 4 champion, will go to Greenwood (12-1), the Region 3 champion, and play for the Class 4A North State title.
The winner of that game will play for the Class 4A State title at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
Another victory would give Noxubee County, the reigning Class 4A state champion, a chance to realize a season-long goal that looked in doubt when the team was mired in a four-game losing streak prior to the start of Region 4 play.
Noxubee County responded from those setbacks to go 5-0 and run its winning streak to 21 in Region 4 games. It answered the bell in similar fashion Friday after a hit by Houston senior defensive back Denver McQuary leveled wide receiver Ladaveon Smith as he stretched to make a catch over the middle.
After breaking out to a 14-0 lead, Noxubee County surrendered an 85-yard kick return for a score and then fumbled following a pass reception that led to a scoop-and-score by the Hilltoppers (9-5).
With the momentum and the home crowd on their side, the hit could have energized Houston, which was trying to avenge a 35-10 loss to Noxubee County in the regular-season on Oct. 30.
Instead, the hit charged the Tigers and had them at the backs of their teammates.
“That hit me there,” Stokes said. “Me being a leader, I wanted to retaliate, but I had to think I am a leader and I got myself together and just said let’s play ball and pointed to the scoreboard.
“At first, we really didn’t do too good because we had a little pushing and arguing, but at halftime we screened all of that out.”
Noxubee County responded by outscoring Houston 22-6 in the second quarter and 13-0 in the third quarter. The Tigers limited the Hilltoppers to 19 yards on 35 carries and 10 yards passing.
“We did (use the hit as motivation),” Shorter said. “Like I told them at halftime, we were going to keep pounding them. If they want to do dirty stuff and take late shots and late hits at us, we were just going to point at the scoreboard. We were not going to retaliate by hitting back or pushing back. I kept telling he guys on the sidelines to settle down.
“At the end of the day, we are just going to point at the scoreboard.”
Shorter received at least one penalty for voicing his displeasure with the lack of a penalty on the Houston player. He said he though Smith should have been considered a “defenseless receiver,” which means a player can be flagged for unnecessary contact against a player who can’t defend himself. The National Federation of State High School Associations Football Rules Committee adopted the rule for the 2015 season.
Shorter said he would have to review the game film to see if the Houston player targeted Smith or led with his helmet.
Shorter felt the lack of a penalty called on that play contributed to the game getting out of control. Noxubee County was called for at least 19 penalties for 182.5 yards, while Houston was called for 13 penalties for 102 yards.
When told his team committed 19 penalties, Shorter said, “That is crazy.
“There is no doubt that was a defenseless receiver,” Shorter said. “He should have been ejected from the game, and that is what I was so upset about. It was close if he led with the helmet, but he still was defenseless. You talk about safety of the kids and then you let a player get away with a shot like that. You can really get a kid out here. Those are the type of plays that had this game they way it was. I thought the officials did a terrible job of controlling the game.”
Unfortunately, Shorter said starting middle linebacker Kalmorris Robinson was ejected from the game due to what appeared to be multiple personal foul calls. He won’t be able to play until the second quarter next week against Greenwood due to the ejection.
With all of that emotion wrapped into a rematch of Region 4 foes, Conner admitted the Tigers didn’t handle themselves the right way after seeing Smith get hit and leave the game and not return.
“Once you hurt one of our players, we are going to take it personally and we are going to try to do whatever we can to keep the momentum going,” Conner said.
Noxubee County kept up the pressure with a ground game that piled up 193 yards. Conner led the way with 55 yards on a night when nine Tigers had at least one carry.
Stokes said the offensive line of junior Tyler Dooley, himself, senior center Bobby May, senior Laterience Dora, and junior Antonio Roby have been working extra at practice in attempt to find their rhythm. He acknowledged that the offensive line was “stalling” early in the season, but he said the offensive linemen and Conner met to talk about how they could make changes. He said everyone has come together to help Noxubee County find the right balance between the run and the pass.
“It feels great,” Stokes said. “At practice, we work even harder. It feels good to know we did a big thing and brought some younger guys up, and we have to keep working hard.”
Working hard for Noxubee County’s offensive linemen means picking up their teammates, even hauling them to the sideline when needed. Stokes smiled and said he was only following the training he gets in practice that encourages offensive linemen to look after their quarterbacks when he picked Conner up and carried him.
Conner just laughed when asked about Stokes’ strength. He said he didn’t know Stokes was going to pick him up and tote him to the sideline. He also said he had no idea Shorter saw the cramp and thought he was hurt. That’s why Shorter encouraged any of the Tigers to help Conner off the field.
“I was telling him to put me down, but he wouldn’t,” Conner said. “After they got a late hit on me, they got it in their heads they were going to do whatever they could to keep them off me.”
Conner said he had confidence the offensive line would come together and help the Noxubee County find the balance on offense that was missing in the losing streak. After looking good in season-opening victories against Starkville and Columbus, Noxubee County appears to have erased the memories of losses to Aledo (Texas), Meridian, West Point, and Kemper County and found the right mix or run and pass, or pass and run.
“We knew our offensive line could open holes up,” Conner said. “We started off sluggish, but we picked it up. The offensive line started opening holes and we started rotating backs, and we know we have a lot of running backs who can run the ball.”
Now that the offensive linemen are opening holes for the running backs, Conner joked he was going to talk to Stokes and get him to do some extra work in case he ever needed another lift to the sideline.
“He almost did (drop me),” Conner said laughing. “I will get him in the weight room.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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