STARKVILLE – For the fourth year in a row, the football season for Noxubee County ended in heartbreak fashion with another team trotting off with the Class 3A state championship trophy.
Raleigh played the role of spoiler in the Tigers’ quest to capture their first title since 2017 and made a goal-line stand Saturday afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium on its own 7-yard-line to hold on for a 12-6 victory.
Down 12-6 with 3:51 to play, do-it-all athlete Jadien Taylor and quarterback Jykeim Goodwin created an offensive charge on the ground for the Tigers and even mixed in a few passing plays for first-down conversions to spur their team on a 18-play, 82-yard drive that left them with a chance to win.
A pass interference call on Raleigh on third down moved the Tigers just two yards away from glory, but Goodwin was met in the backfield by a violent Lion rush for a loss of two yards. Facing 4th-and 4 on the Lions’ 7 with mere seconds left to play, Taylor kept the ball and charged around the right side but was met at the line of scrimmage by Raleigh’s Jamarcus McCullum to squash their comeback attempt. The play sent the Lions’s team and crowd into a cheering frenzy while the Tigers could only watch in disbelief once again as Raleigh took a knee to seal the game. Noxubee head coach Teddy Young said the loss was on him.
“The kids fought their butts off. I got to do better,” Young said as a few tears formed in his eyes. “That’s it. I just have to do better at putting them in positions to make plays. They gave me everything they had.”
The Lions Wing-T offense seemed unstoppable in the first half and carved up Noxubee for 218 yards with a touchdown in each quarter from McCullum, the first from one yard and the second from two yards out, but the second half was all Noxubee. As the sun broke through the early afternoon clouds and shined down upon Davis Wade Stadium, the Tigers’ defense thawed out and stopped the big plays on the ground while their offense found momentum of its own.
In his final high school game, Noxubee got a spectacular performance from Taylor, who at many times moved the chains for the Tigers on nothing but pure will and athletic excellence. He got his team within striking distance with a 15-yard scramble in which he shook off numerous Lions defenders as he plowed his way into the endzone with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.
“He gave it all he had,” Young said of Taylor. “That’s all we asked. Go out there and give it all you’ve got.”
Noxubee outgained Raleigh 219-38 in offensive yards in the second half but fell just short of the comeback.
“Defense did their job; they got a shutout in the second half. Offense, we had plenty of chances to score; I’m the playcaller and I’ve got to do better,” Young said.
Taylor finished with 90 rushing yards on 22 carries, and Goodwin piled on 81 yards on 24 runs on the ground and went 8-of-14 through the air for 113 yards.
Taylor ended his high school career on the same field he committed to play on in the future, a feat he said “means a lot.” He’s one of Mississippi State’s newest football recruits and will get the chance to join his brother, quarterback Kamario Taylor, as Bulldog.
“It would have been better to end with a win, but I know I came here and showed the coaching staff of Mississippi State what I can do,” he said.
Noxubee ends the 2025 campaign at 11-4 overall and turns its attention to another offseason, wondering what if.
“This one hurts,” Young said. “They’ve been so close, battled through a lot this year. (We) were right there and couldn’t punch it in. (It) Just hurts.”
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