MACON — Noxubee County football coach Teddy Young often reminds his players what it’s going to take in order to return to the top.
“If we’re going to get back where we need to go,” Young tells the Tigers, “our defense is going to have to carry us again.”
Defense, after all, won Noxubee County five Mississippi High School Activities Association titles in a 10-year span, as the Tigers won titles in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Last season, it was defense that got Young’s team to the championship game, but the Tigers lost that contest to Jefferson Davis County, 25-15.
So Young knows that it’ll take another season of dominant defense — plus a strong year from the Noxubee County offense — to not only get back to where the Tigers were last year but to win the sixth title in school history.
And just over a week from the team’s season opener against Shannon on Sept. 4, he’s got his players believing that just might happen.
“We’re going back to the ‘ship, and we’re going to bring the gold ball home this time,” senior running back Bobby Shanklin said.
Shanklin’s confidence is spurred by the return of every member of a strong offensive line, the talented skill position players Noxubee County brings back on offense and the Tigers’ eight returning starters from a defense that allowed an average of under 20 points a game all season, including 8.2 in five postseason contests.
This year, Shanklin issued a proclamation that might be bolder than his prediction of a state title for the Tigers: Noxubee County won’t even allow seven points in a game, he said.
“Our defense is going to be raw,” Shanklin said.
With defensive lineman Travorus Hatcher leading the way, it doesn’t sound so far-fetched. Hatcher, who already has scholarship offers from Western Illinois, UT Martin and South Alabama, among other schools, is set to reprise his role as a team leader and a star on the line.
“I think he’ll be one of the best D-linemen to come through (Noxubee County),” Young said. “He has that potential.”
Hatcher said that he wasn’t even playing to his full ability last year, susceptible to opponents who pulled run plays away from him and let him overrun the play.
“I think last year, most teams used my aggression against me, so I had to watch for that,” Hatcher said.
So he worked over the offseason with several players, including his cousin, former Noxubee County and Mississippi State standout Jeffery Simmons — now with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans — on refining his technique, slowing down and penetrating the gap to make the play.
The result, coupled with a step up in leadership, have Hatcher’s coach excited about what the defensive tackle will do for the Tigers this year.
“I’m expecting him to have a great year, and I’m expecting him to lead us to the state championship and win it this year,” Young said.
Young pointed to senior linebacker Trillo Brown, senior safety Zack Andrews, senior cornerback Mushune Walker Jr. and junior outside linebacker Chaunssey Triplett as some of the other difference-makers on defense for Noxubee County.
But he also said the Tigers’ success will depend on their O-line, which featured mostly unproven players getting game experience for the first time in 2019. Now, senior left tackle Ma’teo Chandler, senior left guard Jordan White, senior center Colby Dixon, sophomore right guard Bryson Kelly and senior right tackle Rickie Hunt will have another year together on the line.
“If we can handle business up front and our defense does what they did last year, I think we have a good chance to get back and win it,” Young said.
Shanklin returns at running back with fellow senior Damian Verdell behind him. Junior Demone Cunningham will play tight end with senior Macardi Johnson as the Tigers’ No. 1 receiver.
Chrishaad Rupert will be Noxubee County’s starting quarterback, although he is new to the position after playing wideout last season. But despite Rupert’s inexperience, Shanklin and Hatcher said they both feel comfortable with the senior as their signal caller this fall.
“I know it’s going to be different, but he’s going to get it done OK,” Hatcher said.
After all, Young did the same last year when he called on linebacker Marlon Windham to start at quarterback. A pitcher for the Noxubee County baseball team, Windham performed admirably as the Tigers’ leader, and he has gone on to play for Coahoma Community College.
“It’s hard to replace him — just the simple fact that he was more than just a quarterback,” Young said. “He was our leader offensively, defensively — he was the leader of the team. When stuff got hard, everybody followed him. It’s going to be hard to replace him, but as a group effort, I think we’ll get the job done.”
Noxubee County will get its first shot at proving that Friday when the Tigers travel to Louisville for a two-quarter scrimmage that will, for all intents and purposes, feel like a real regular-season contest.
“It’s still a big rivalry, so I know my kids will get up for the game,” Young said.
The scrimmage will give the coach a chance to evaluate his Class 3A team against the Class 4A power, which has just as much strength on its D-line as the Tigers have on the other side.
“That’s going to be a great matchup: their defensive line versus our offensive line,” Young said.
He acknowledged he wasn’t sure how the Tigers would fare after a long layoff caused by COVID-19. Essentially, Young said, Noxubee County had no spring and half a summer to work, and the Tigers are still acclimating to the heat and getting used to things after starting practice in pads Aug. 17
“We haven’t played against anybody since December, haven’t hit anybody else. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of team we’ll have,” Young said.
According to both him and Hatcher, Noxubee County will have quite a good one. The lineman said the Tigers are more mature, more focused, more talented and — most importantly — as ready as ever.
“We’re up for the challenge for every team,” Hatcher said. “(Class) 6A, 5A — it doesn’t matter what ‘A’ it is; we’re just up for the challenge. We’re Noxubee — we don’t back down from anything.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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