Four of the players chosen as Mr. Football will have their talents on display when the Mississippi High School Activities Association holds its football championships games Friday and Saturday. Class 4A Mr. Football Ty Cooper of Louisville, 3A Chandler Pittman of Magee, 2A Ty Keyes of Taylorsville and 1A Robert Henry of Lumberton hope to lead their teams to championships. Cooper and Keyes are members of the Mississippi team for the Mississippi/Alabama All Star Game scheduled for December 12 in Montgomery. Pittman and Henry will be on the South squad for the December 19 Bernard Blackwell North/South All Star Game at Brandon High School. Games will be played at Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson. The action begins on Friday at 11 a.m. with Magee and Noxubee County battling for the 3A title, while Lumberton and Biggersville battle for the 1A title at 3 p.m. and the 7 p.m. contest is a 6A showdown between Oak Grove and Oxford. The 11 a.m. game on Saturday has Louisville and Poplarville playing for the 4A title, while Taylorsville and Calhoun City play for the 2A title at 3 p.m. The final game of the weekend is the 5A title contest, featuring West Jones and West Point at 7 p.m. North teams will be home teams for all six games and will be on the press box (west) side of the stadium. Tickets are $15 for each day, but fans may not leave and return to the stadium. Tickets may be purchased in advance online at the gofan website, or at the stadium each day. Games will be televised on the following stations:Delta – This TV – WHCQ Channel 8.1; Gulf Coast – Bounce – WLOX Channel 13.3; Hattiesburg – Bounce – WDAM Channel 7.3; Jackson – MeTV – WAPT Channel 16.2; Meridian – Bounce – WMDN Channel 24.2; and Tupelo – My MS – WCBI Channel 4.2. CLASS 4A Louisville and Poplarville met in the 2018 title game with the Louisville coming from behind for a 25-20 victory that gave the Wildcats a ninth state championship. Louisville defeated Itawamba AHS 18-6 in this year's North state final and Poplarville downed Mendenhall 35-6 in the South State final to reach the title game for the third straight year. MHSAA conducted a virtual press conference with the 12 head coaches Monday. Louisville head coach Tyrone Shorter said “We have a really, really good defense. Our defense carried us all year.” He noted that the Wildcats returned seven defensive starters, but had nine new starters on offense. Defensive standouts include Cooper at defensive end with 106 tackles, including 36 tackles for losses and 12 sacks. Poplarville coach Jay Beech said “They (the Wildcats) force you to make mistakes and make you pay for it when you make mistakes.” Poplarville runs the Wing T offense. “It’s an offense you don’t see much so it’s hard to simulate it in practice,” Shorter said. “We have to be disciplined and play good solid smart football.” The Hornets average more than 300 yards a game on the ground. CLASS 1A Biggersville blanked two-time defending champion Nanih Waiya 26-0 in the North State final. Biggersville is 13-0 and has been dominant, outscoring opponents 538-77. Henry ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns in Lumberton’s 30-0 South State victory over Simmons. Lumberton was defeated by Nanih Waiya in last year’s championship game. CLASS 6A It's a rematch of last year's title game won by Oxford 31-21. Both teams are 12-0. Oxford stretched its winning streak to 25 with a 31-27 victory over Clinton in the North State final. Oak Grove broke open a close game with a field goal and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter for a 43-24 victory over Northwest Rankin in the South State final. CLASS 5A West Point will be going for a fifth straight state title following a 29-22 victory over Ridgeland in the North State final. West Jones led Pascagoula 18-3 at the half of the South State final and held on for an 18-16 victory. Kentrel Pruitt had two TD runs for the Mustangs. CLASS 3A Pittman threw for both Magee touchdowns in a 14-6 victory over Columbia in the South State final. Noxubee County is seeking a sixth state title following a 50-6 victory over Winona in the North State final. Chrishard Rupert threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns and Bobby Shanklin ran for 100 yards and three TDs for Noxubee County. CLASS 2A Keyes will be attempting to quarterback Taylorsville to a third championship in four years. The Tartars won the title in 2017 and last year, but lost the championship game to Scott Central in 2018, a game Keyes missed with an injury. In a 40-13 South State victory over Enterprise, Taylorsville ran for 414 yards. Calhoun City defeated East Union 22-14 in the North State final when Jackson Lee hooked up with Thomas Clayton on a 43-yard TD pass with four minutes left to break a 14-14 tie. Calhoun City won the championship in 2016.
