In the eyes of Wildcats fans, Louisville had a good season last year but it wasn’t a great one. The ultimate goal every season for LHS is a state championship. They came up two games shy of that in 2019 when Greenwood eliminated them in the third round of the Class 4A state playoffs and ended the quest for back-to-back state championships. “We feel good going into this season with this group of kids,” Shorter told WCBI. “We’ve been here. This is our second year here. I have the program exactly the way I want it. The guys are responding to us the way we want them to respond so we feel really good about where we at right now.” The longtime Noxubee County coach brought a winning mindset to an already tradition-rich school in a perfect mashup. Shorter won five state championships with the Tigers and was head coach for four of those. He walked into a program fresh off of its ninth gold ball and they’re one of the only programs in the state to have won a championship in the last four decades. In order to join South Panola and West Point as the only three MHSAA schools in the state with 10 trophies, the Wildcats will have to rebound after losing some talent. LHS took home a 5-0 Class 4A, Region 4 mark a season ago and were 11-3 overall with the losses being to Noxubee, Starkville and Greenwood. The offense loses a large portion of the passing game with Drea Shumaker gone along with wide receivers Kaleb Mosley, David Haynes and Niselbyion Kirk along with over 1,000 yards rushing from Michael Foster. Jace Hudspeth and Camden Sanders appear to be fighting for the starting quarterback spot after playing a combined six games last year. But like always, the Wildcats appear ready to reload and this year the strength will be in the running game. “We got some guys that’s going to be more explosive in the backfield,” Shorter said. “We have four running backs that I feel really good about. We have a couple quarterbacks that we feel good about. They’re going to be young and inexperienced. Not going through the spring hurt us a little bit in that area, but we are pleased right now with our quarterback position.” Offensive skill players seem to be never ending in Louisville, but it also always begins and ends with the defense for the Wildcats. More than ever with Shorter at the helm, their emphasis on being fast and physical on that side of the ball is at the forefront. Senior Ty Cooper leads the way for a defense that should be salty again this year. A Dandy Dozen selection, Cooper is getting recruited by Mississippi State and Ole Miss and brings athleticism and experience back to the group after having 63 tackles, 21.0 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks last year. “Our defense is going to have to carry us,” Shorter acknowledged. “I feel like we have one of the best defenses in the state. We definitely have the best defense in 4A so we feel real good about where we are.” The Louisville tradition and the program’s success will continue to live on through this year, but Cooper wants to leave his mark along with his senior brethren. The group has vowed to each other to make it five-straight decades of state titles and hopes to start it in 2020. With the uncertainty of each day and game due to COVID-19, they’ll do their best to make it happen. “We got to keep the tradition going and build the program back up,” Cooper said. “Just be like the other programs. It’s bigger than us. We got to keep the winning tradition going like everyone knows. Get that respect back like Louisville had.”
Number Name Position Grade Height Weight
1 Dontavious Triplett WR 12 6’1 190 2 Joshua Nunn CB 12 6’0 175 3 Kylan Triplett S, RB 11 5’9 175 4 Kentay Roach WR 12 5’ 8 140 5 Christian Rush WR 12 6’1 190 6 Keandre Gill LB 12 5’11 175 7 Tyvoris Cooper DE/LB 12 6’4 240 8 Keyarrion Jackson WR/QB 10 5’9 160 9 Emory Jamey RB 11 5’10 190 10 Jacec Hudspeth QB 11 6’0 185 11 Gabriel Moore DE/LB 10 6’3 200 12 Aaryion Johnson DB 11 5’9 160 13 Shontez Thames LB 11 5’10 175 14 Swahili Earby WR 10 6’2 160 15 Jarvis Rush WR 11 6’0 165 16 Nicholes Jackson WR 11 5’11 170 17 Melvin Knowles WR 10 5’9 150 18 Dearrius Norton WR 10 5’10 155 19 Jykevious Goss QB 9 5’10 155 20 Nigel Anderson TE 10 5’10 190 21 Kaliyah Coburn CB 12 5’10 165 22 Kenneth Hill DB 9 5’10 150 23 Jaden Triplett RB 10 5’9 160 24 Randerous Leonard LB 10 5’10 165 25 Jacorry Coleman RB 11 5’10 180 26 Sharod Hoskins DB 11 5’9 160 27 Ja’Marcus Eiland OLB 12 6’1 195 28 Christavious Savior DB 10 5’10 160 29 Semai Knowles DB 9 5’11 150 30 Laquarrious Taylor DT/N 12 5’11 250 31 Cade Thompkins DE 9 5’10 170 32 Jeffrey Smith LB 11 5’10 205 33 Caleb Hughes TE 10 5’9 170 36 Laterrious Haynes DB 10 5’10 150 38 Dakota Steele DB/RB 9 5’9 150 41 Lee Jackson DB 9 5’9 150 42 Jamarkus Johnson DB 11 5’10 160 45 Darrious Hickman DB 11 5’11 170 46 Hykeem Holman DL 10 5’10 160 47 Jaquay Haynes DB 10 5’11 165 49 Detravious Rush DE 10 6’2 200 53 Vidashunn Yarbrough OL/DL 12 5’10 230 54 Jaquavion Ivy OL 11 6’3 255 56 Dijaylen Miller DT 9 6’1 230 57 Omauri Macon DT 12 5’11 255 58 Jatavious Hayes OL 12 6’0 245 61 Dayton Hampton OL 10 5’10 230 63 Darrion Watson OL 12 5’10 290 64 Timothy Hoskins OL 9 6’1 211 66 Jakeveion Yarbrough OL 10 5’11 265 67 Frederick Parker OL 12 5’11 260 70 Triston Harrington DT 10 6’4 260 71 Chauncey Thames OL 11 6’3 375 72 Lakeives Pace OL 10 6’3 270 75 Jamarion Colberson OL 10 5’9 235 76 Chase Fairley OL 10 5’9 220 78 Lanorris Hickman OL 11 5’10 300 79 Victor Rush OL/DL 10 6’0 215 82 Josiah Steele WR 10 5’9 155 84 Brayam Munoz K 12 5’9 145 86 Cedrick Hunt K 9 5’5 145 88 Kirkland Triplett WR 10 5’6 130 91 Jerimiah Kirk DT 11 6’3 230 93 Antonio Hunt DT 10 5’11 215
