MACON — Tyrone Shorter knows a lot about “rivalry” games.
With a schedule packed with games against Starkville, Columbus, Meridian, West Point, and Kemper County, the Noxubee County High School football team has gone in nearly every direction to play some of the area’s best teams. Shorter even took the Tigers to the state of Texas earlier this season to face state power Aledo High.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Noxubee County will play one Louisville in one of its biggest rivalry games of the season. In addition to being a reunion for former Noxubee County head coach M.C. Miller and Shorter, who was his longtime defensive coordinator, the teams possibly could be playing for the No. 1 seed out of Class 4A, Region 4. At 4-4, Noxubee County has defeated region opponents Kosciusko and Leake Central to get back to .500. Louisville improved to 6-2 and 2-0 in the region last week with a 38-13 victory at Caledonia.
Dubbed the “Toothpick Bowl” for Miller’s penchant for having a toothpick in his mouth when he coaches, the teams know each other well and have plenty of athletes on both sides of the football. Shorter said all of the storylines should make for a great evening.
“These programs have a lot of rich tradition,” Shorter said. “They are very talented. We are very talented. They are very well coached, and we are, too. They have some athletes. I think we just have to minimize our mistakes and play one of the best games that we have played this year to beat them.”
That should be less of a concern for Shorter, whose team is coming off a 41-7 victory at Leake Central. Shorter said prior to that game that his defense and offense had promised him a shutout and that they were going to score more than 40 points. The offense lived up to its side of the story, while the first-string defense held up its end until it left the game late in the third quarter. Shorter called the Tigers’ effort last week “the best game of the season,” which was a relief considering he and his coaches were wondering when and if the Tigers would round into form after playing arguably the state’s toughest non-region schedule.
Last week, senior running back Shunessy Sherrod rushed for two touchdowns to help the Tigers run the ball effectively. Shorter said it was the second week in a row that Noxubee County’s offensive line and running backs worked well together. He said their combined efforts made things easier for senior quarterback Timorrius Conner.
Shorter knows things probably won’t be as easy Friday night against Miller, who coached at Noxubee County High for 27 years and left the school following the 2009 season. In 2008, Miller led Noxubee County to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A state championship. Shorter took over for Miller and led Noxubee County back to the state title in 2012 and 2014.
Realignment moved Louisville down to Class 3A for the past two seasons. This allowed Noxubee County to focus on winning the 4A championship and Louisville to focus on winning the 3A championship, which the Wildcats did in 2013, going 16-0. Miller was named The Dispatch’s All-Area Small Schools Coach of the Year for his efforts.
Shorter has coached with and against Miller long enough to know his team will have to guard against the big plays if it is going to come out on top. Noxubee County is riding an 18-game winning streak in the region. Its last loss in the region came against Louisville (14-12) on Oct. 20, 2011.
Shorter said the Tigers will have to force the Wildcats to drive the ball the length of the field against a defense that might be without senior defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons (ankle). Shorter said Monday he would have to wait to see if Simmons was cleared to play and if he had a chance to practice before the game. He said he wouldn’t play Simmons if he didn’t practice before the game.
Noxubee County’s performance on defense the past two weeks has given Shorter reason for optimism. While he said Simmons makes everyone on defense so much better, he said the Tigers are doing a better job communicating on defense and swarming to the football. He said those things were missing earlier in the year when the team wasn’t playing Noxubee County football.
Shorter doesn’t think that will be a problem Friday night against one of the school’s biggest rivals.
“We just have to play our hearts out and lights out until he gets back,” Shorter said. “I think a lot of these kids are playing for him because they want him to play again. Like I told them earlier, we have to keep this thing going until he comes back. The guys are doing that, They are playing hard.
“There is something abut when we get into division play. We just turn it up a level, That is what our kids are doing. This week, you don’t have to get their attention or practice hard. Our kids are not just focused on the rivalry. They are focused on the No. 1 seed because they want to play at home throughout the playoffs.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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