“Good football teams find a way to bounce back and get back on track, and that’s what we’re going to do. We have a good football team. It showed in the first two ballgames. The last two games we just kind of fell apart, but there is no quit in this team.”
— Noxubee County High School football coach Tyrone Shorter talking about his team on Sept. 15, 2015, as it entered Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A,
Region 4 play with a 2-4 record.
MACON — If you didn’t know any better, it would be easy to think the topic of discussion was the 2015 Noxubee County High School football team.
After all, the quote by Noxubee County High School football coach Tyrone Shorter that appears prior to this story very easily could apply to the 2016 Tigers. That’s because losses to West Point (47-6) and Kemper County (26-21) have left Noxubee County in a spot it didn’t want to be in — 2-4 for the second-straight season — as it completes preparations for its Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A, Region 4 opener against Kosciusko at 7 p.m. Friday.
But instead of wallowing in the frustration and disappointment of those setbacks, Shorter was able to smile Tuesday because the longtime coach has confidence in his team. Although young, Shorter believes October is Noxubee County’s time year and that the program’s history will help the players re-focus.
The biggest difference between last season and 2016 is Noxubee County doesn’t have standouts like Jefferey Simmons, Qendarrion Barnett, Deveon Ball, Timorrius Conner, and others to rely on. The contributions of Simmons, who is at Mississippi State, Barnett, who is at Idaho, and Ball, who is at Hinds Community College, were critical because they were responsible for making the play calls for the defense, while Conner was in his third season as starting quarterback last season. Their play helped the Tigers regroup to win their final 10 games of the season. The 10th victory was a 44-23 victory against St. Stanislaus that secured Noxubee County its second-straight Class 4A State title, and third in four years.
This season, though, Shorter said his defense doesn’t have as many college-ready or vocal players, so he and his coaching staff have had to do more teaching. This week, Shorter said he and his coaches have simplified things on defense so the players won’t have to make as many calls and they will be able to react and fly to the football, like the program’s dominant defenses in past years have done.
“They want to think too much, so we had to simplify our defense a little more,” Shorter said. “Every team is different, even though you might have some of the same kids. But I feel good about our team going into district play because we are battle tested and have been in the fire. I am proud of our kids because we knew our first six games were going to be really tough and I like how we have responded, for the most part.”
Shorter said he will make the play calls for the defense and secondary coach Ed Square, who will move up to the press box, will make sure everyone is on the same page on the back end. Linebackers coach Kendrick Vivians will move down to the field to work with his group, while defensive line coach Heyward Ashford will monitor the defensive line.
“I think we will be able to notice if they are playing fast instead of thinking,” Shorter said. “I have been around the game for a long time, and I can tell when kids are thinking instead of reacting to what they see.”
The hiccups have come in the last two weeks when Noxubee County didn’t play its usual physical game against West Point and suffered one of its biggest losses in recent memory. Last week, Noxubee County squandered a 21-0 lead and lost to Class 3A Kemper County for the second-straight season. The Wildcats took it to the Tigers in the second half and scored in the final two minutes to win in Macon.
Shorter wasn’t pleased after the game because he felt some of his players didn’t give their best effort and play up to the standards past Noxubee County teams have set. He said Tuesday that the bar previous group of Tigers have established might have been too high for his group, but he still believes things can be corrected in part due to the team’s success in region play. Noxubee County enters its game against Kosciusko riding a 21-game winning streak in region play.
Shorter hopes the Noxubee County offense he saw in the first half against Kemper County will show up this week. He said the offense has had flashes but has had problems putting four quarters together. He stressed Monday that the kids have to execute at a higher level from here on out because all of the games have bigger consequences.
“It is different now,” Shorter said. “They way you process things, the way you approach things, the way you think, the way you play, everything has to be totally different. You have to get into playoff mode because you have to take every game like it is our last one.”
With a schedule that includes Starkville, Columbus, Forest, Meridian, West Point, and Kemper County, Shorter feels his team has seen everything, so it should be prepared. The start of region plays will be an equalizer and re-set the bar at 0-0 for everyone. A year ago, Noxubee County entered region play in last place with a 2-4 record. This season, Kosciusko (1-4) holds that distinction, while Louisville begins region play at 2-4.
“Let’s roll,” Shorter said. “We play our best football in October and November. That is when it counts. If we can just start jelling together, this team should be fine.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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