At this time last year, Jeff Roberts was defensive coordinator for Water Valley and the Blue Devils were on their way to the MHSAA Class 3A state championship. He will face his former team as head coach of Choctaw County Friday when the Chargers meet Water Valley in the second round of the MHSAA playoffs.
It will be a home game for Choctaw County with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
The Chargers, champions of Region 4-3A, advanced with a 28-12 victory over Ruleville Central. Water Valley, runner-up in 2-3A, clobbered Kossuth 55-12.
Ruleville Central entered the game with a 4-6 record, fourth in 3-4A, but proved to be a tough out for Choctaw County, trailing only 14-12 at the half. “We did start the game a little sloppy, but we were able to make some adjustments at halftime, and we were finally able to put the game away in the second half,” Roberts said.
Quarterback Tylan Carter was injured in the first half and replaced by sophomore Connor Jewell. Jewell’s stats weren’t overwhelming – he completed two passes for 28 yards and ran three times for 12 yards – but his play drew praise from Roberts. “Considering that he didn’t get very many reps during the week, he did a good job managing the game and did not make any mistakes that put us in bad situations.”
For the most part, the offense consisted of the running of Dicenzo Miller with 20 carries for 80 yards, and Antonio Kennedy, 11 carries for 66 yards. “They had to carry the load with Tylan being down. They did a good job carrying the load,” Roberts said.
Miller scored two first half touchdowns on 11-yard runs, but Ruleville answered each with a TD with one of its own.
The Chargers added second half TDs on a 28-yard interception return by Kendall Coleman and a 14-yard run by Kennedy while the defense blanked the Tigers.
Trace Beard was four for four on PATs.
Coleman earned Roberts’ praise for his play in the secondary while also seeing action on offense with two carries for 12 yards and a 16-yard reception.
The competition will be much steeper Friday. Water Valley is 8-3. led by senior quarterback Jacob Truss. He is a dual threat who has totaled more than 2,000 yards running and passing.
“We will have to throw the ball and stop 16 (Truss),” Roberts said. “Defensively, they are going to be sound up front. And they have linebackers who know what their job is and they’re going to do their job.”
Choctaw County is 9-3 with eight straight wins.
