The excitement is building in Noxubee County.

Monday marks the official start of practice for the Noxubee County High School football team.

It also means Noxubee County is another day closer to a primetime television matchup that could decide a district champion.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, Noxubee County will play host to Class 4A, Region 4 rival Louisville in the third season of Cellular South”s “Y”all vs. Us” television broadcast package.

Even though Noxubee County will feature plenty of quality non-district matchups, including games against Spain Park (Ala.), Starkville, West Point, New Hope, and Aberdeen, Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said the entire county is buzzing about the chance to showcase its football program to a bigger audience.

“It”s going to be huge,” Shorter said. “That game is a huge game. The schools are only about 30 miles apart, and it always has been a big rivalry. Everybody in the community is waiting on that game. Everybody is talking about. Everybody has been calling to find out what date the game is on so they can make their work schedule to have that day off.”

Shorter said Noxubee County”s stadium seats more than 5,000, but it also has plenty of space in both end zones and in front of the concession stands to accommodate extra seating. Shorter said plans are already being made to bring additional bleachers in to handle what is expected to be an overflow crowd.

Shorter said officials with the “Y”all vs. Us” game will be in Macon later this week to look at the stadium and to devise a plan for their television production. The crew is expected to bring a jumbotron video screen that will show highlights of the game.

The series features some of the oldest and biggest high school football rivalries in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Last season, select game telecasts reached more than 12 million cable and satellite households in seven Southeastern states.

Noxubee County defeated Louisville 19-12 last season to clinch the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A, Region 4 title. Noxubee County advanced to the Class 4A North State title, where it lost to eventual state champion Lafayette.

Louisville, which is led by former Noxubee County head coach M.C. Miller, also lost to Lafayette in the second round of the Class 4A North State playoffs last season.

Both programs have an impressive track record in the past decade. Louisville won Class 3A state titles in 2007 and ”08 under coach Brad Peterson, who is now the head football coach at Brandon High.

Noxubee County lost in the Class 4A state title game in ”07 before defeating D”Iberville 12-10 for its first football state title in ”08.

Noxubee County has won four games in a row in the series, and is 9-2 against Louisville in the past 10 years. All but one of the meetings have come in the regular season. Louisville beat Noxubee County 21-20 in its second game in the Class 4A North State playoffs in ”02. That victory avenged a 36-22 loss to the Tigers in the regular season.

Shorter believes this year”s matchup will carry similar postseason ramifications.

“More than likely it is going to determine the district championship and home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs,” Shorter said. “We”re going to try not to get too caught up in all of the stuff that is going on that week. To my understanding, it is something every high school wants to experience. I am excited about it, and I am gad to be a part of it.”

Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.