The Noxapater Tigers should be well prepared for the upcoming division football schedule.
The Tigers lost their third Class 2A or larger school as they fell 38-14 to Eupora on Friday night.
Noxapater falls to 1-4 on the season and will open division play this week as they host 1-4 French Camp.
Coach Caleb Kelly said he thought his team competed with the much larger and faster Eagles.
“We started strong in the first quarter,” Kelly said “We held them 6-0. I thought our guys played really hard overall considering the circumstances of having three starters out. Eupora capitalized on an interception and busted two one-play scores on offense where our guys were out of alignment. My hats off to them.”
The Eagles used the big play to hurt the Tigers most of the game. The first came on a 52-yard pass. The PAT failed and Eupora led 6-0.
After a Noxapater punt, the Eagles went 44 yards in 15 plays and scored on a 5-yard quarterback keeper to take a 12-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Eagles added two more scores in the second quarter with a 73 yard run and a 62-yard interception return to take a 25-0 lead at the half.
The Eagles got the ball to start the second half and scored on the first play from scrimmage on a 65-yard run to take a 32-0 lead.
After swapping possessions, Noxapater finally got on the board as they went 50 yards in seven plays. Kaden Carter hit Chris Dale on a 20-yard touchdown pass to get the Tigers on the board. The try for two failed and Eupora led 32-6.
The Eagles answered right back with a 57-yard pass play to extend the lead to 38-6.
After the two teams exchanged punts, Noxapater went 79 yards in 10 plays as Cameron Pankey scored on a 1-yard run. Pankey ran in the two-point conversion for the final score of 38-14.
Noxapater had 238 yards rushing and 44 passing for 282 yards of total offense. A.J. Robertson led Noxapater with 64 yards on 17 caries while Carter had 58 yards on 10 carries. Andrew Harrington had 52 yards on six carries while Pankey had 32 yards on seven carries. Carter was 6-of-11 passing for 44yards while Dale had four catches for 43 yards.
On defense, J’Cameron Riley and Logan Sanborn led the Tigers with seven tackles while Vontavious Triplett had six tackles. Dale had five tackles and two for a loss while Robertson, Harrington and T.K. Wilson each had three tackles.
This week’s game
The Tigers will try to get off to a quick start in division play as they host one-win French Camp.
The Panthers opened the season with three straight losses, falling to West Lowndes (42-40), Eupora (34-13) and Vardaman (41-7). After a 33-13 win over Pisgah, the Panthers lost 56-32 to Central Holmes last week.
“We begin division play this week with French camp who will have a well-coached team and very sound on defense,” Kelly said. “Their rushing attack with their quarterback/running back is very effective so we have to key in on their counter run to win.”
The Panthers are led on offense by senior running back Silas Hodge, who has 693 yards on 81 carries. Quarterback Logan Wright has 693 yards on 81 carries and has thrown for 437 yards on 28-of-55 passing.
