LOUISVILLE — M.C. Miller has been involved in a lot of memorable moments in 40-plus years.

The veteran coach also has seen a lot of intense battles between rivals Noxubee County and Louisville high schools.

On Friday, Miller watched what could be his final installment in the series with his heart pounding in his chest until the final seconds.

Elijah Wilkes’ 21-yard field goal with two seconds remaining helped settle Miller’s nerves and lifted Louisville to a 27-26 victory in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 4 game at R.E. Hinze Stadium.

“I think this is the best one,” Miller said when asked where the game ranks in series history. “We went tit for tat, back and forth, and when you have to come back with two minutes to go from the 20-yard line to get down here and get in position to get the field goal, it means a whole lot.”

Wilkes’ field goal capped a wild final 5 minutes, 20 seconds that saw Noxubee County (3-5, 0-1 region) score three times — 14 points — in a span of 2:25 in the fourth quarter. The Tigers earned a safety on Chaokang Brooks’ sack of Drea Shumaker in the end zone, a 31-yard touchdown pass from Khristopher White to Savion Price, and a blocked punt by Travorus Hatcher that JaQuarius Jamison picked up and returned for a touchdown.

But Tigers missed one of the extra points and had the other one blocked. In all, Noxubee County missed three extra points and failed on a two-point conversion.

“This game here just got us started,” Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter said. “We are starting to get healthy, and our kids fought tonight. We hurt ourselves. There is nothing Louisville did tonight that hurt us. We hurt ourselves. We got inside the 10 twice and didn’t finish. Then you miss three extra points. This game won’t define us. Like I just told our kids, we just have to work hard, and I think both of these teams will end up in the North State championship. I feel like we are both that good. We just have to keep grinding and keep working hard.”

The win helped the Wildcats improve to 7-1 and 2-0 in the region and ended the Tigers’ 30-game winning streak in Region 4 play that dated back to a 14-12 loss to the Wildcats in Oct. 20, 2011. It also snapped Noxubee County’s five-game winning streak in the series.

Louisville went nearly 80 yards for the final score after a personal foul penalty on the extra-point try following the blocked punt and score. With 2:55 remaining and starting from its 20-yard line, Louisville used a 34-yard pass play from Shumaker to David Haynes to ignite the march. Shumaker’s pass floated just over the hand of a cornerback who was in front of Haynes and paused to jump in an effort to knock the ball away.

“It just went right over his hand and the safety wasn’t over in time,” Shorter said. “We knew they were going over there. We told the safety to cheat over and we just have to make a play. They made a play. That was the difference in the ballgame. If we make that play the ballgame is probably over.”

A 28-yard run by Kevon Jackson around left end moved Louisville to the 18 with a little more than two minutes to play. From there, the Wildcats milked the clock with seven running plays. They lost Shumaker after he gained 4 yards for a first down that set up first-and-goal. The senior quarterback came down hard after a big hit and limped off the field. The Wildcats used direct snaps on the final three plays behind a heavy package in the backfield in an attempt to score the touchdown, Miller said, to avoid kicking the field goal. But the Tigers defense delivered a loss of 1 yard on third down to set the stage for Wilkes’ kick.

The win was satisfying for Miller, who said the Wildcats welcomed six players — all starters — back due to injury and “being in trouble.” It also was important because play started Friday with two teams in Region 4 winless and another with only one win entering play. As a result, the game figured to be a de facto region championship game to see which team had an opportunity to earn home-field advantage in case the squads meet again in the North State title game. Noxubee County had that edge last season after taking the regular-season meeting 35-30. It benefited from playing the rematch in Macon and won 35-28. Noxubee County then defeated East Central in the Class 4A State title game for its third championship in four years, and its fifth overall.

Louisville, which won its last state title in 2013 and has eight championships, hopes to follow a similar path in Miller’s final season at the school.

Miller left Noxubee County in 2010 after 30 years and leading the program to its first football state title in 2008. He initially took the job of head football coach at Harrison Central before jumping at the chance to replace Brad Peterson as coach at Louisville. Miller, who had a 184-77 record at Noxubee County, will retire at the end of the season.

“I think we’ll meet them again,” Miller said. “I think we have them at home, too. I am just glad at that. I hope they get beat somewhere else. … We had to go there twice last year. I think we will be a little better if we get those guys back in shape and ready to go.”

Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor

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