Noxapater football coach Casey Orr was more than a little worried about Leake County.
In the end, he had very little reason to worry.
The Tigers used a suffocating defense and shut out visiting Leake County 28-0 in a key Region 3-1A contest on Friday night.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 8-1 on the season and will host West Lowndes this week.
“I thought it was one of our best games all year,” Orr said. “We left some points on the field and it should have been 30-0 at the half. But considering who we were playing, it was a big win for us. They were 7-1 coming in and a really good football team.”
The Gators had just 65 yards of total offense as the Tigers forced six turnovers.
“I thought the defense played their best game of the year,” Orr said. “I think they had 65 yards of offense. We caused six turnovers and had a safety. They played a great game and flew to the football. We felt like they might bust a long run on us but our guys did a good job of limiting that.”
The Tigers got the ball to start the game and set the tone early as Joshua McClendon returned the opening kick 55 yards. The Tigers scored five plays later as K.D. Carter found the end zone on a 1-yard run. Carter also ran in the two-point conversion as Noxapater led 8-0.
After swapping punts, Noxapater pinned Leake at its own 6 and forced a fumble when the Leake County quarterback ran out of the back of the end zone for a 10-0 lead.
Carter set the Tigers’ next score up after recovering a fumble. The Tigers then went on a nine-play, 52-yard drive as Carter scored on a 4-yard run. The try for two failed and Noxapater led 16-0 at the half.
The Tigers added two more scores in the second half. The first was a 19-yard run from McClendon that capped off a four-play, 48-yard drive midway through the third quarter for a 22-0 lead.The last score came from Chase Ray as he scored on an 8-yard run to cap off a 59-yard, four-play drive. The try for two failed as Noxapater led 28-0.
“I thought the biggest thing for us is we were balanced on offense,” Orr said. “No one guy had all of the yards. They have to acknowledge all of our guys, not just one. Our kids have come a long way since week one. We are a different team that we were when we played Starkville Academy.”
The Tigers had 205 yards of total offense with 193 yards rushing and 12 passing. Raheem Hathorn had 66 yards on 11 carries while McClendon had 6 yards on 14 carries. Carter had 32 yards on nine carries while Ray had 29 yards on nine carries.
Jarious Hathorn had five solo tackles and four assists with three tackles for loss. Ray had five solo tackles and three assists. Ryan Whitfield had four solo tackles and an assist along with four tackles for loss. Hathorn had four solo tackles while Nick Stone had two solo tackles and five assists. Carter had two fumble recoveries and an interception while Hunter Johnson added an interception. Kyler Carter and Hathorn each had fumble recoveries.
The Tigers will host West Lowndes this week in another Region 3-1A matchup.
The Panthers are 2-6 on the season and coming off a bye week. Their wins came over Hamilton (38-31) and Vardaman (40-26). They have losses to Caledonia (40-12), Simmons (50-2), Biggersville (49-16), Leake County (40-38), French Camp (33-14) and Nanih Waiya (53-0).
“They are athletic and can run,” Orr said. “Early in the year, they had some close games. In the last few weeks, it has gotten away from them. At times, they look really good and at times they don’t. We just have to be prepared on our part and just want to be better than we were the week before. They were off last week so who knows what they will do this week.”
Last year, Noxapater won 29-0 over the Panthers.
