Noxubee County High School football coach Tyrone Shorter plans to grade his defense a little better this week.
“I think they have worked their way up from a C-plus,” Shorter said. “Yes, they will get better than that.”
Two goal-line stands and two safeties will make any coach giddy. All of those defensive plays loomed large in Noxubee County’s 24-23 victory against Columbus on Friday night at Falcon Field.
The heavyweight matchup between the state’s No. 5 (Columbus) and No. 10 (Noxubee County) teams lived up to the advance billing. An overflow crowd saw a nip-and-tuck battle that swung back and forth with numerous plays in specials teams and on defense.
There were moments when the game looked like the second one of the season (28 combined penalties for 199 yards). There were other times when it looked like two teams with potential to play in December for state championships were on the field.
“This was a big-time game with a big-time atmosphere,” Columbus coach Randal Montgomery said. “This is still new to our program. Two excellent football teams played on that field. The other team had more points when the fourth quarter ended.”
Noxubee County entered the game with a plan to stop the run. When asked for specifics, the goal was to stop All-State Dandy Dozen running back Kylin Hill, who has committed to Mississippi State.
The Tigers held Hill (15 rushes, 92 yards) in check and also turned the Falcons away on a Kendre Conner rushing attempt on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the first and third quarters.
“The whole plan was to stop Kylin Hill,” Noxubee County sophomore defensive back Kyziah Pruitt said. “He is one of the best running backs in the state. We had our backs against the wall, and we knew we had to make a play. If it was (Hill), (Conner), or (quarterback C.J. Gholar), we had to make a play.
“We grew up a lot on that first goal-line stand. That gave us so much more confidence to make the second one.”
Noxubee County sophomore quarterback Maliek Stallings also took a step forward. After throwing for 203 yards in a 24-21 season-opening loss to Starkville, Stallings had 275 more, including a game-winning 52-yard touchdown pass to Pruitt with 7 minutes, 30 seconds left in regulation.
“We give all the glory to God for putting us in a position to win this game,” Stallings said. “I told the guys we were going to get it done on that drive. So proud of the defense. They had our backs the whole night.”
Shorter mostly likely will grade his quarterback high as well. An underthrown ball intercepted by junior cornerback T.J. Jackson was the game’s only turnover.
After that interception, Noxubee County’s Kalmorris Robinson tackled Gholar in the end zone for a safety. Trailing 23-17, Noxubee County took the free kick and drove 57 yards on three plays.
“The growth and maturity (of Stallings) has been quite amazing,” Shorter said. “He has grown up in two weeks. He is taking over the team. His confidence level goes up on each drive. Tonight, he shakes off the interception and has a game-winning drive.”
It also helps to have Pruitt in the huddle. Shorter has thrived with placing his best players in a position to make plays on both ends of the field. Friday night was no different, as Pruitt had eight receptions for 178 yards and three pass deflections on defense.
“I think everybody was excited about going back to practice this week,” Pruitt said. “Starkville won the 6A championship last year, and we know we were one play away from beating them. We play Columbus and they are ranked, too. I think the guys really got up for the challenge. We learned a lot from last week and put that to good use in this win.
“When we play together as a defense, there are no teams that are going to be able to stop up. Two safeties and two goal-line stands makes for a pretty good night.”
Noxubee County built an 8-0 lead on a safety and 1-yard run by Stallings. While each of the three safeties changed the momentum, the team following the points up with strong offensive possessions after the free kick was just as important.
After the Stallings’ touchdown, Hill broke loose for a 90-yard kickoff return. It was his second kick return touchdown of the season.
“We told our kicker not to kick to him,” Shorter said. “And then things happened.”
Noxubee County carried that 8-7 lead into the locker room.
Columbus then looked poised to take control of the game on a 23-yard run by Hill that capped a five-play, 70-yard drive to start the third quarter.
From there, Noxubee County grabbed a 15-14 lead. After Lee and Joshua Little teamed up on the next goal-line stop, Columbus took a 16-15 lead when Chris Blair and Braylen Edinburgh wrapped up running back Jakerrius Oliver for a safety.
The Tigers then fell down 23-15 and looked to be in jeopardy after the interception. Instead, they kept making plays.
“I think a lot of people are expecting us to take a step backward after the last two seasons,” said Robinson, a senior linebacker. “That is not what we believe in the locker room. We believe we can win another state championship. I am pretty proud of what we have done the first two weeks, but the best is yet to come.”
Follow Dispatch Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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