It’s hard to say exactly how many first-quarter points you need to put a team away early in high school football, but 40 will just about do it every time.
The homestanding Tigers of Noxapater did just that on Friday night as they scored six first-quarter touchdowns on the way to a 47-0 win Vardaman to close out the regular season at 10-2. The early outburst led to a running clock with just two minutes left in the opening frame.
“We came out and got some breaks early and grabbed the momentum,” said Noxapater head coach Casey Orr. That chain of events allowed the Tigers to rest some of their starters and work on their depth by getting younger kids into the game.
Next up for the Tigers is a first-round playoff game against visiting Myrtle (6-5) Friday night at 7.
‘This is a big game for us,” Orr said. “It’s been a long time since Noxapater has gotten out of the first round of the playoffs. We aren’t overlooking Myrtle or anybody we play.”
Orr said it’s really not that hard to keep his team from looking ahead at this point I the season.
“Once you are in the playoffs you better be focused each week,” he said. “Everybody has earned the right to be there. You can’t get caught looking ahead.”
Orr said the key for the Noxapater defense would be to slow down Myrtle running back Issa Nugent, a 5-foot-10 205-pound bruiser who has rushed for 1,897 yards so far this season.
“He is a big physical kid, who doesn’t go down easy,” Orr said. “It will be a challenge.”
Last week, however, wasn’t much of one.
K.D. Carter scored four touchdowns for the Tigers, including one on a punt return. Carter rushed for 81 yards on four carries, scoring on all but one of those carries. Raheem Hathorn, Chase Ray, and Donnie Chunn also scored touchdowns for the winners in the game.
Chunn got a chance to see extended playing time at quarterback and hit on 7-of-10 of his passes, with Kyle Phillips gathering in four receptions.
Defensively Ryan Whitfield had six tackles, recovered a fumble and blocked a kick, while Landon Bailey was in on five stops. Caleb Ellingburg intercepted a pass for the Tigers, while Kyler Carter recovered a fumble. As a team, the Tigers recorded 17 tackles behind the line of scrimmage on the night.
