MACON — Rashad Eades needs a crash course on classic cartoons.
When asked Friday night if he recognized the name “Road Runner,” Eades initially said he didn’t. After a little prompting — beep beep — without visual aids, Eades shook his head and acknowledged he did know the arch enemy of Wile E. Coyote.
On this night, Eades proved to be one of many villains to the Louisville High School football team.
The senior wide receiver had four catches, including two of quarterback Armoni Clark’s three touchdown passes, and the Noxubee County High defense had two key interceptions in a 35-28 victory against No. 2 seed Louisville in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A North State title game at Tiger Stadium.
No. 1 seed Noxubee County (10-4) won its eighth-straight game to secure a matchup against No. 1 seed East Central at 3 p.m. Saturday at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford. East Central (13-0) defeated No. 1 seed Poplarville 52-45 on Friday night to win the South State title.
“I have been off the last couple of weeks and my team asked me to step up,” Eades said. “I just had to make a couple of plays to put my team on top.”
Eades makes difference
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Eades entered the game with three catches for 50 yards in Noxubee County’s last two playoff victories against Corinth and Yazoo City. He was a difference-maker right from the first snap. The Tigers targeted him on their second play, but the pass was incomplete. Eades caught a 14-yard screen pass for a first down on the second series before he broke out in a big way.
With the game scoreless in the second quarter, Noxubee County dialed up a bubble screen to Eades, who made it work by breaking a tackle around the 35-yard line. The 47-yard pass play was part of a 21-point period that helped the Tigers seize the momentum.
“I am a pretty fast guy,” said Eades, who said he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. “Most of all, I just like to use the gifts God put in me to get open and to run the routes I run.”
Eades ran a route that is a favorite for receivers everywhere in the third quarter. Leading 21-7 and pushed back to the Louisville 18 following an unsportsmanlike penalty, Clark and Eades teamed for a little more magic.
Clark said offensive coordinator Teddy Young had called a running play to the left. But the senior said he saw Eades had one-on-one coverage to his right and the safety was shading to the inside, so he figured it would be a great chance for an audible to let Eades use his speed.
“When I threw it, I knew it was a touchdown,” Clark said. “Getting Rashad back in the offense makes it more explosive. He makes big plays for us when we get him the ball.”
Eades said he beat his defender off the line by taking two inside steps, faking outside, and faking inside before going back outside
‘Touch’ pass for TD
Clark said he has worked on “touch” passes like that all of his life with Eades and other receivers. Still, he said he knew he had to be perfect in a North State title game.
“I knew if I gave him a chance to make a catch, he was going to make it,” Clark said. “I don’t see too many people holding him in one-on-one coverage.”
Clark, who also is a member of the school’s boys basketball team, said the confidence he had that the play was going to be a touchdown is similar to the feeling a shooter has in basketball when he is having a good game and he knows the ball is going to go in once it leaves his hands.
The second touchdown pass helped Eades eclipse Kyziah Pruitt for most touchdown catches (13) on the team. Even though his 80 receiving yards fell short of his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season, his 20-yard per catch average allowed him to stay close to his season average of 21 yards. Eades entered the game with 44 catches for 924 yards. Pruitt came in with 71 catches for 1,035 yards.
Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said the passing game blossomed in a 38-26 loss to West Monroe (La.) on Sept. 22. Clark had a career day in the loss, going 25-for-37 for 383 yards. The completions, attempts, and yards are season highs. Shorter said the goal against Louisville was to get its playmakers in space so they could make things happen. He made a point to Eades that he had to deliver if the Tigers wanted to punch their ticket to Oxford.
“I told him coming into the game you have been missing for the last three weeks,” Shorter said. “It was just a matter of time he was going to have a big game.”
Shorter said Eades has been hurt a little the last few weeks, but he said it was a great time for him to break out. Entering the game, Eades had only five catches in the Tigers’ three playoff wins. His effort against Louisville was more like his two-catch, 115-yard, two-touchdown performance in the regular-season finale against New Hope.
Clark welcomed the return to form for Eades. He pointed to the game against West Monroe as the one that helped set the Noxubee County passing game in motion.
“The West Monroe game was our best passing game,” Clark said. “Since then, everything just started clicking more and more.”
Clark said the confidence the offense gained from the performance provided a lift. He said the offense started to become more disciplined and cut down on penalties. Early in the season, the Tigers hurt themselves with a lot of unforced mistakes like false starts and offsides, but Clark said the Tigers started to trust each other more. He said that was especially true of the offensive line, which paved the way for a 266-yard ground game against Amory and a 487-yard effort on the ground against Corinth in the playoffs.
Against Louisville, though, Noxubee County managed only 76 yards rushing on 43 carries. Pruitt (2 yards) and senior fullback L.C. Clemmons (3 yards) had rushing scores. That’s why it was imperative for Eades to act like the Road Runner and make things miserable for the Wildcats.
“After the West Monroe game, we knew we had good receivers and a good offensive line and that we could throw the ball,” Eades said. “It was confidence in our team. We had to believe in the offensive line and put them on our back.”
Said Clark, “He is a very elusive guy. If you get the ball to him, he is going to make a couple of guys miss. When you get him the ball, all he sees is green grass and touchdowns.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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