MACON — Noxubee County returns to the MHSAA Class 3A state championship game for the third straight season, the program’s fifth appearance in six seasons with Teddy Young as head coach.
The Tigers, 11-2, are riding to Hattiesburg on the back of a 10-game winning streak, extended dramatically on Friday as Young’s team overcame a 34-16 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat top-seeded Magee in the state semifinal. 

“We’ve been in that game before, two years ago,” Young said, reflecting on the comeback effort. “We played in the North state against Amory, we went down like 20 points and fought our way back to win in overtime.”

Several members of the Tigers’ Class of 2025 were young starters in that 52-51 win, including quarterback KaMario Taylor, who has evolved into one of the most talented high school players in the country. He and his fellow seniors have been to the title game and lost in each of the last two seasons, but this time they aim to finish the job and cement their legacy as Tigers. 

“I’ve just been telling him and the seniors to embrace this week. It’s their last time practicing, their last time putting on the uniform… He means a lot to our program, he’s set all sorts of records for our team, but we talked about cementing his legacy for this program and becoming a state champion, and that’s what we want to do on Thursday.” 

The matchup

The Tigers’ opponents Choctaw County are 13-1 this season, losing 22-21 in Week 1 at MAIS 5A state champions Parklane Academy.  

Since then the Chargers have been on a tear under head coach Dillon Mitchell, scoring 40 or more points in 10 games as part of a 13-game winning streak heading to Hattiesburg. 

The Chargers’ headline player, a threat the Tigers are well aware of, is five-star wide receiver Caleb Cunningham, an Ole Miss commit with scholarship offers from 12 Southeastern Conference teams. 

In May, the two teams met for a Spring exhibition game, knowing full well that they could be meeting again in December. Taylor and Cunningham were the stars of the show, attracting recruiters from Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Alabama to Macon for a showcase of two of the most talented players in the country. 

Cunningham showed his skill with a touchdown in double-coverage in that game, but he hardly saw the ball the rest of the time as the rest of the Chargers offense showed what they can do as well. 

Quarterback K.J. Cork has plenty of options, including receivers Savarion Miller, Jayvion Lowery and Chancen Mosley. Cork is also an asset in the run game along with running back Jeramiah Miller, who has 1,980 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns this season. 

The Tigers will not only have to slow down the prolific Chargers on defense, they’ll have to keep pace on offense. 

Impact players

The Tigers of course are no slouches on offense themselves. 

Taylor found the end zone three times in the final five minutes against Magee last week, twice through the air and once on the ground, showcasing his incredible playmaking ability when his team needed it most. 

Taylor has 55 total touchdowns in 2024 and nearly 4,000 total yards. He holds several program records, including most passing touchdowns in a single game, season and career, and he’s on the verge of setting the record for the most total yards in a career. He is a force by himself, but he isn’t by himself. 

Taylor’s favorite target is his brother, Jaiden Taylor, and the pair have combined 16 times for scores this year. They’re separated by less than a year in age and Jaiden is relishing the opportunity to play alongside his older brother.

ASeveral young receivers have stepped up for the Tigers. Sophomores Jamarious Little and Michael Dancy and junior Ledareoun Mosley have all been key in the receiving game for the Tigers, and each made big plays on Friday as the team booked its ticket to Hattiesburg. It wasn’t the case early in the season, and dropped passes accounted for many of the team’s early frustrations, but the team has grown a lot since the early defeats to Starkville and West Point. The young group makes plays when it matters most, and Young is confident they’ll continue to do so on Thursday. 

“It shows the growth they’ve made this season,” Young said of their improvement. “It was our biggest goal, to get better every week, and now they’re making those big-time plays. They never stopped working, never stopped believing and they played for each other.”

Legacy

Noxubee County has a chance to add a sixth banner year to its history, and the first with Young as head coach. It’s the last ride with Taylor at quarterback, and though the program has won before him and will certainly continue winning after the signal-caller matriculates to Mississippi State, the quarterback is hungry to finish this season the right way for himself and for his teammates. 

It will take everything they have for 48 minutes, but they know that well. It’s just a matter of finishing the job this time. 

“We know we need to play our best game,” Young said. “We can’t slip up, we can’t start slow again, we have to do everything the right way. We have to win in the trenches and in the turnover battle, and we can’t give up big plays. It’s got to be a complete game, playing for the last second. As long as they go out there and give it all they’ve got, we’ll get the win. We just have to play our best game.”

Noxubee County by the numbers

State champions: 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017

Runners-up: 2007, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023

Statistical leaders

Passing – KaMario Taylor, 2752 yards, 39 TDs, 121.3 QBR

Rushing – KaMario Taylor, 1190 yards, 16 TDs

Receiving – Jaiden Taylor, 892 yards, 16 TDs

Defense – 15 points per game allowed

Tackles – BJ Payton, 10.8 per game, 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles

Interceptions – Jaiden Taylor, 4 INTs

2024 Road to the ‘Burg

8/30 Starkville L 43-22

9/6 Philadelphia W 39-7

9/13 @ West Point L 20-18

9/20 Shannon W 40-7

9/27 @ Louisville W 28-13

10/11 Kemper County W 39-26

10/18 @ Enterprise Clarke W 54-21

10/25 SE Lauderdale W 52-0

10/31 @ McLaurin W 41-3

Playoffs 

11/8 St. Stanislaus W 42-3

11/15 Jefferson Davis County W 31-6

11/22 @ Seminary W 45-15

11/29 @ Magee W 36-34