By Don Rowe
Special to The Dispatch
CALEDONIA – Since 2007, Noxubee County has beaten Caledonia nine straight times. Over that same span, the Tigers have outscored the Confederates 368-41 (40.9 to 4.6), including a 55-0 whitewash last season.
Noxubee County made it 10 wins in a row here Friday evening, but Caledonia made a game of it for four quarters before finishing on the short end of a 47-33 score – the 33 points only eight less than it had managed to score the previous nine years combined. And, had it not been for several bad breaks throughout the contest, the Confederates may well have ended their losing streak to the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 4 leader.
With the loss, Caledonia (4-5, 1-3) will travel to Leake Central (4-6, 1-3) next week, with the winner earning a spot in the 4A playoffs as the division’s No. 4 seed.
Meanwhile, Noxubee County (5-5, 4-0) sits in the driver’s seat for the division’s top spot, but will need a regular season-ending win over Houston (8-2, 3-1) – who dropped a surprising 27-23 decision to Louisville Friday – in Macon to finish atop the standings. Should the Tigers lose to the Hilltoppers and if Louisville beats Kosciusko (0-4, 1-8), it would create a three-way tie for the championship before any tie-breakers come into play.
“We’ll need a win at Leake Central next week to make it to playoffs,” said Caledonia head coach Andy Crotwell following the game. “I’m proud of the way the kids played tonight and we will need that same effort, that same intensity next week if we are to extend our season.”
Up 7-0 on an 11-yard run by Ty’Quintin Ramsey and a PAT kick by Samuel Lowery at the end of the first quarter, Noxubee County added a second touchdown on a 4-yard run by Jaqualyn Smith followed by Lowery’s point after kick midway through the second period for a 14-point spread.
The Tigers missed out on one other possible scoring opportunity late in the first quarter when Caledonia’s Timothy Davis caused a fumble and Zion Ford recovered the ball at his own 6-yard line.
Caledonia had an opportunity to cut the deficit in half on its final possession of the second quarter when the Feds drove to the Noxubee 36, but a high snap sailed over quarterback Spencer Unruh’s head and was recovered by Tiger defensive end Terry Joiner for a 21-yard loss way back at the Confederates 43-yard line.
One play later, Tiger quarterback Maliek Stallings hooked up with Smith on a screen pass, and the sophomore running back scampered into the end zone with 35 seconds left on the clock. Lowery then added his third point after kick to give Noxubee a 21-0 halftime advantage.
The turnover, which denied Caledonia a shot at the end zone, along with the subsequent Noxubee score, resulted in a possible 14-point turnaround.
“(We) had a chance to go in down by seven, but that play turned out to be a momentum-shifter in the first half,” Crotwell said. “They had so much speed on defense and they took advantage of their quickness to put us in a bind offensively.”
Undaunted, the Confederates jumped back into the game with two quick scores to open the third quarter. Ford got the home crowd on its feet when he bolted 83 yards for a touchdown with the second-half kickoff and then, after Caledonia forced a Noxubee punt on its first series, Ford latched on to a tipped Unruh pass en route to a 78-yard touchdown with 8:49 to play in the third quarter. Caleb Comer’s two PAT kicks pulled the ‘Feds within 7 points of a tie (14-21).
“Even though we dug ourselves a hole and were down by 21 at the half, we felt good about our chances and managed to get back into the game early in the second quarter,” Crotwell said.
But Noxubee countered with a Stallings to Kyziah Pruitt TD pass from 7 yards out to cap an 8-play, 60-yard march and then Lowery, after missing the point after kick, added a 24-yard field goal with 1:56 left in the third period for a more comfortable 30-14 advantage.
Caledonia pulled to within 10 points on its ensuing possession when Unruh directed a 3-play, 65-yard drive with pass completions to Jamel Thomas (18 yards), Chace Pennington (19 yards) and finally to Thomas again (28 yards), but his 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete with 1:29 left in the third quarter to make it a 30-20 contest.
Noxubee County came up with its own touchdown on a tipped pass on its next possession when Javarcus Walker latched on to a Stallings’ aerial on a diving catch from 9 yards out to cap an 80-yard drive with 9:31 left in the fourth period. Lowery missed the extra point try, but the Tigers recovered the ensuing onside kick and he finished off a 51-yard march with a 29-yard field goal with 7:30 to play to push the score to 40-20.
Less than a minute later, Caledonia came back with another three-play drive on consecutive pass completions to pull with 14 points. Ford kicked things off with a 34-yard kickoff return and a 20-yard pass reception, followed by a 22-yard completion to Thomas and a 9-yard scoring toss to Robert Hamilton. A bad snap cost Comer a shot at the point after and left Caledonia 14 points down at 40-26.
Ford promptly recovered an onside kick at the Tiger 41 and a 10-yard Unruh run, followed by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Noxubee, gave Caledonia a first at the 16. However, a 10-yard sack by Jimmy Morris and three straight incompletions turned the ball back over to the visitors at their own 26.
Noxubee quickly marched 74 yards for its final touchdown, a 4-yard plunge by Ramsey which was set up by a 56-yard pass from Stallings to Kymbotric Mason. Lowery’s point after extended the Tigers’ lead to 21 points at 47-26 with 2:45 to play.
Caledonia then marched 67-yards during which Ford picked up 11 yards on the kickoff and 30 yards on three rushes, along with three pass completions by Unruh to Hamilton good for 29 total yards – the last of which went for 5 yards and a touchdown. Comer’s kick narrowed the margin to 14 points with 15 seconds left, but incredibly enough, Caledonia recovered yet another onside kick at the Noxubee 31 to give the Feds one last shot at the goal.
Under extreme pressure from the cat-quick Noxubee defensive unit, Unruh tried to get rid of the ball but was intercepted by Eddison Little, who took it 65 yards to the house only to have the play nullified because the Tigers had 12 players on the field. Unruh’s subsequent pass fell incomplete on the game’s final play to preserve the Tigers’ region win streak.
Statistically, Noxubee County torched the Caledonia defensive unit for 622 total yards, 304 rushing and 322 passing, en route to 26 first downs. The majority of the Tigers’ rushing yards came by running behind 300-lb. Tyler Dooley and 295-lb. Antonio Roby.
“We knew Caledonia had a good team and could put points on the board, and they showed that tonight,” said Noxubee County head coach Tyrone Shorter “But we’ll take the win any way we can get it.”
Caledonia passed for 240 yards but could only muster 35 yards net yards on the ground on 24 rushes – 10 of which went for a negative 72 yards – against a small but quick Noxubee defensive unit.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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