MACON — Noxubee County senior running back Bobby Shanklin sauntered down the Tiger sideline donning an ear-to-ear grin.
Minutes after Shanklin himself tossed a defender with his right hand, sidestepped past a second and raced into the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown run, his first cousin and sophomore running back Derrick Shanklin crossed the plane to give Noxubee County the insurance score it needed in a 32-8 win over Booneville in Friday’s MHSAA Class 3A second-round matchup.
“I just knew when my cousin scored I had to get one,” Derrick said. “I had to get one right back behind him.”
Resting a bum ankle that was heavily taped and that both he and head coach Teddy Young conceded was probably just 80 percent healthy, Bobby didn’t see the field in the opening 24 minutes due to his coach’s concern.
With the elder Shanklin sidelined, the Noxubee County offense was afforded every opportunity to quash what little hope remained on the Booneville bench but persistently impeded itself.
Racing out to a 14-0 lead courtesy of a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Chrishaad Rupert and a 3-yard plunge by running back Damian Verdell via a Booneville fumble, Noxubee County again found itself deep in Blue Devil territory as the clock inched toward halftime.
But rather than stretch the lead to three scores with under three minutes remaining in the half, the Tigers coughed up the football on the Booneville 5-yard line to bail out the visiting Blue Devils.
Following the fourth Booneville punt of the night, Noxubee County gift wrapped its second fumble of the contest as Blue Devils linebacker Eli Murphy scooped and scored from 25 yards out to pull his squad within a touchdown.
“The first half, the biggest thing is we weren’t finishing,” Young said. “We were moving the ball, got in the red zone, turned it over four times. We just had to finish and that was the speech at halftime — finish offensively.”
Egging on Young to allow him onto the field, Bobby Shanklin was afforded his wish less than two minutes into the second half.
“I’m hungry,” Shanklin told Young at halftime. “I want it. I feel it. Just let me play, and I’m going to show you.”
“I was just trying to keep him out as long as I could,” Young added. “But he convinced me at halftime.”
Taking an outside handoff toward the Booneville sideline, Bobby Shanklin dodged a pair of Blue Devil defenders on his way to pay dirt to extend the Noxubee County lead to three scores.
After Rupert found Antonio Fowler on a 17-yard touchdown pass, Derrick Shanklin earned the family’s second score of the night. Running the same outside handoff Bobby scored on a quarter and a half prior, Derrick burst through the Noxubee County offensive line and darted into the end zone for a 15-yard score to push the final margin to 24 points.
“It felt great to get a touchdown after my big cousin,” Derrick, who’s two years Bobby’s junior, said. “I know I’m going to be the man, so I knew I had to step up.”
Having ditched his shoulder pads as he stood outside the Noxubee County locker room following the win, Derrick Shanklin conceded through a grin he owed it to his family to add to its touchdown haul Friday after watching Bobby find the end zone. In doing so, the Tigers now move on to face North Panola with a spot in the Class 3A semifinals on the line.
“Those guys are playmakers,” Young said of the Shanklin cousins. “The offensive line blocked well, receivers blocked well downfield, and those guys did the rest of their part.”
Noxubee County 32, Booneville 8
B 0 8 0 0 — 8
NC 14 0 12 6 — 32
First quarter
NC — Chrishaad Rupert 1 run (kick failed)
NC — Damian Verdell 3 run (Verdell run)
Second quarter
B — fumble return TD (two-point run successful)
Third quarter
NC — Bobby Shanklin 55 run (kick failed)
NC — Antonio Fowler 17 pass from Rupert (kick failed)
Fourth quarter
NC — Derrick Shanklin 15 run (kick failed)
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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