MACON — Losses have helped his teams bounce back in the past, but Noxubee County High School football coach Tyrone Shorter never imagined one setback could have as big of an impact as it has had on his team.
When that loss is as “embarrassing” as a 51-19 defeat to Starkville High, there are plenty of things coaches can use to re-focus their players. For Shorter, the loss highlighted an alarming inability to tackle and an uncharacteristic lack of aggressiveness on defense — two areas Noxubee County High teams have prided themselves on under former coach M.C Miller and Shorter.
Two weeks later, Shorter can point to the opening week and attribute his team’s growth to that loss.
“I think I must have watched that game three times because I couldn’t believe … and coming into the game I thought we had a chance to beat them,” Shorter said. “I never would have thought our defense would have played that poorly. I had a lot of confidence in our offense and I had a lot of confidence in our defense. I just never thought we would play so poorly. We acted like we had never tackled.
“I can accept a loss, but the way we played, it was like we didn’t show up at all. We got down and hung our heads.”
Noxubee County improved to 2-1 with a 49-14 victory against archrival Louisville last week. It will return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Aberdeen (2-1) in its home opener. The game against the Bulldogs, who are expected to be a Mississippi High School Activities Association contender in Class 3A, is the latest in a stretch of six non-region games that figure to make the Tigers battle tested for next month. Games against West Point and Charleston will round out the non-region schedule before the Class 4A, Region 4 opener at Kosciusko on Oct. 3.
Shorter praised his special teams for sparking the Tigers against the Wildcats. Javarcus Walker had a 90-yard kick return to set the tone, according to Shorter. A blocked punt and a recovery by Kavorkian Brewer helped the Tigers pad the lead in the first quarter. A ground attack that piled up 248 yards on 30 carries helped Noxubee County beat its longtime rival.
“They showed me another side of them,” Shorter said. “The last couple of weeks the guys have been really focused. We saw a lot of great things. We didn’t have any offsides penalties or false start penalties. The things we have been working on, we can see a progression in the games.”
Noxubee County, which is ranked No. 2 behind St. Stanislaus in the Mississippi Association of Coaches poll, should have plenty of motivation to remain focused. On Friday, it will face a team led by senior Josh Williams, who is one of the state’s top quarterbacks. The following week, Noxubee County will have to go to longtime rival West Point for its annual showdown. A game against Class 3A power Charleston follows. That game was added to the schedule late and fills what would have been Noxubee County’s bye week prior to its region opener.
Shorter said earlier this season that staying healthy against such a challenging schedule will be difficult. But following the loss to Starkville he opted to go back to ones vs. ones in practice to try to get his players mentally and physically tougher. He has seen the move pay dividends the past two weeks and will continue to do it.
“All our kids, that is all they talk about, getting back to the championship game,” Shorter said. “That is our ultimate goal, just like every team in the state of Mississippi. If we take care of what I call the little things, if we do the little things right and every kid is held accountable for their job, the big things will take care of themselves.
“This group of kids is hungry. They want to get back to the championship game. They show it at practice. They show it during film. They show it in everything we do. They are showing it every week. The attention is there.”
The attentiveness comes from the belief Noxubee County could have scored at least two more touchdowns against one of the state’s top teams on a night it didn’t play very well. He said the dissection of that loss quickly turned to the next 15 games and the road to the state title game at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. If Noxubee County, which won the Class 4A crown in 2012, makes it back to Starkville, it will be fitting. As long of a journey as that will be, Shorter believes his team will be able to remain focused the whole way thanks in part to the team’s first trip there Aug. 22.
“We took everything from that game and broke it down and went over it with the kids,” Shorter said. “Taking nothing from Starkville because I think they are the best team in the state. At this point, they are showing it. They are beating up on everybody. Right now, I am saying to myself I don’t feel as bad anymore, but we took that loss — and the way we lost — we gained a lot of positive things from it.”
n In related news, former Noxubee High standout Javancy Jones, who is a sophomore linebacker at Jackson State, was named Monday the Southwestern Athletic Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week.
Jones led the defense with nine tackles, four for a loss, in a 59-0 rout of Virginia Lynchburg on Saturday. He also forced a fumble and broke up a pass.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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