It’s the 4A state championship or bust for the Louisville Wildcats this year.
The Wildcats feature one of the premier defenses in not only Class 4A football but in all of Mississippi High School football.
For veteran coach M.C. Miller, the defense brings back memories of some of the great Louisville defenses of the past.
“This defense is as good as my defense in 2008 that won a state championship,” Miller said. “I had really good defenses in 1991 and 1993 that won state championships and this defense is just as good. They might not be quite as serious as those guys were. They don’t take it quite as serious as those guys back in the day. They play and joke a little too much. If they would take it a little more serious, they would be really good.”
Leading the way on defense is defensive tackle Charles Moore, a mammoth 6-foot-4, 270 pound defensive lineman who has already committed to Mississippi State and could be the top defensive lineman in the state before the season is done.
“Charles is looking really good,” Miller said. “He’s worked really hard coming back from the knee injury. He’s ready to play after missing all of last year. He’s the kind of player that you have to game plan for. You can’t just decide to run it right at him.”
Joining Moore on the line will be Andreas Glenn and Darius Hopkins. At defensive end will be Rankevious Johnson, Shemar Eiland and Ty Cooper.
At linebacker will be Ashanti Cistrunk, who was the team’s second leading tackler last year with 133 stops. He will be joined by Jeremiah Hardin and Kristian Hopkins.
In the secondary will be Kedarius Dixon, Jonteavis Garnett, Marcus Glenn and Clartavious Triplett.
On the offense, Deonte Yarbrough returns at quarterback after throwing for 1,564 yards and 23 touchdowns last year.
He will be joined in the backfield by Kevon Jackson who was the team’s second-leading rusher with 761 on 118 carries. Also expecting to get carries is Micheal Foster.
At wide receiver, the Wildcats lost the majority of their catches with Pervis Frazier, Ladarius Luckett and Dequarius Haynes graduated. Coming back this year will be Dre Shumaker, David Haynes and Alvius Haynes.
On the line, Derrion Dora, Timothy Yarbrough, Nasir Brown, Sacario Goss and Victor Mosley will start while Jacory Grace will also sub in.
“I think if we can keep getting better on offense and keep moving the football, I think we can do some good,” Miller said. “Deonte Yarbrough is looking good at quarterback. We have a new offensive coordinator and they are getting better at it. The line is a little young and we have some good young receivers. I think those guys are going to be pretty good as well.”
Handling the kicking and punting duties will be Elijah Wilkes.
The Wildcats participate in Division 4-4A along with rival Noxubee County, who handed Louisville two of their three losses last year.
“Noxubee is going to be pretty good again,” Miller said. “They kept all of their players and I feel like it’s going to be us two again this year. We have to play well in the first half. Last year, we didn’t play very good in the first half against Noxubee and had to battle back the whole second half. If we play good first half ball, I think we will be OK.”
