MACON — Eight will be the magic number for Tyrone Shorter on Friday night.
The Noxubee County High School football coach will be able to live with 10, as long as the penalties committed by his team aren’t one of lack of concentration or focus.
Those two areas have been of prime importance to Noxubee County in the last week since a 38-26 loss to West Monroe (La.) on Sept. 22. The Tigers used their bye week to address the on-going disruption caused by false start, offsides, and other self-inflicted wounds that have plagued the team in its 2-4 start to the season.
“Discipline has cost us two games,” Shorter said. “We committed 19 penalties against Meridian and we should have won the game against West Monroe. We had two touchdowns called back against West Monroe. We have pointed out the mistakes and now I hear some of the guys saying, ‘We are beating ourselves.’ ”
Shorter appeared to be upbeat earlier this week as he discussed the work the coaches and the players have done to correct those mistakes. He knows Noxubee County will need to cut down on its penalties if it wants to kick off the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 4 part of the schedule right at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Louisville (6-1, 1-0 region).
Noxubee County enters the game having won the last five Region 4 titles and riding a 26-game winning streak in the region. Its last loss was a 14-12 decision to Louisville on Oct. 20, 2011. This season, the matchup figures to be an early test to see which of the perennial powers will have the best chance to win the crown.
Shorter knows Noxubee County has to cut down on the 16-, 17-, and 19-penalty games it has had earlier in the season. He lamented silly mistakes that cost his team at least two touchdowns against West Monroe (La.) in a game he felt his team should have won. That’s why he has set eight as a limit for penalties against Louisville. He acknowledges that is a difficult line to walk,e specially considering he wants his team to remain aggressive. Still, he said it is a matter of his players staying under control, paying attention to their assignments and calls, and blocking out all of the distractions.
Shorter said the Tigers used the bye week to get healthy. As a result, he said there is only one player questionable for what usually is one of the biggest games on the team’s schedule. While the timing might be a little earlier than in past seasons, it could come at a perfect time for a Noxubee County squad that appears to need a test to see if it has what it takes to regain the championship form of the 2014 and 2015 Class 4A state title teams.
Shorter said the coaches took advantage of the bye week to watch film with the players. He said the coaches of each position group broke down the film with their players to ensure the players recognized their mistakes and knew how to correct them.
In years past, Noxubee County wouldn’t have had a bye week. Instead, Shorter likely would have tried to schedule a challenging game to make sure his players were ready for the tests in region play. This season, though, Shorter said he was glad he couldn’t find an opponent because he felt the players needed the time off and the extra film work to get back on track.
“I think this team is rejuvenated,” Shorter said. “Their mind-set is different. I thought there would be a lot of dragging, but the kids wanted to practice Thursday. I gave them Thursday and Friday off, but we were able to use Thursday to get in the ice tubs.
“I like their attitudes. Their attitudes are going in the right direction. They know what is at stake now.”
Shorter also took time to analyze the team’s films. He said the Tigers committed “80 percent” of the penalties called against them. He said it is a matter of discipline for his players to watch the ball or to control themselves to avoid jumping offsides or being called for late hits. He said “speed, being physical, and discipline” the rest of the season.
“We are an undisciplined football team,” Shorter said. “They are playing hard, but they are undisciplined. Blocking in the back, we are getting too many of those penalties. False starts, jumping offsides, lining up offsides defensively, that is discipline. That is what we have been focusing on.”
The positive for Shorter is he doesn’t see any quit in his team despite lopsided losses to rivals like Starkville and West Point. In other games, Shorter has liked the way the offense has moved the ball only to see mistakes, turnovers, or special teams play foil the good work. He said special teams play has improved and the offense appears to be hitting its stride after senior quarterback Armoni Clark threw for more than 300 yards and wide receivers Kyziah Pruitt and Rashad Eades had big games against West Monroe (La.). With the start of district play next up, Shorter said the Tigers have to raise their level another notch to become a more disciplined team.
“This week is going to be for the district championship,” Shorter said. “There are some good football teams in our district, but Louisville is No. 1 in our district. They are playing really good football. They are 6-1, and they are our rival. Like I told our coaches in the meeting Sunday, if the coaches can’t get up for this one or the kids can’t get up for this one, we might as well throw in the towel.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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