Two weeks into the season the top defense in Region 4-3A, of which Choctaw County is a memoir, appears to be Noxubee County.
The Tigers blanked Columbus 18-0 last week to go with an unusual 2-0 win over Louisville in week two. Also at 2-0 is Houston, who has wins over Pontotoc (26-0) and Calhoun City (32-7). The other remaining three teams in the division — Aberdeen, Hatley, and CCHS — are all 1-1.
In other Region 4-3A scores from last week Choctaw County lost to Winona 42-14, Hatley fell to Smithville 33-25, and Aberdeen was defeated by Caledonia 28-28.
Four of the five teams in the region are on the road this week, with the lone home game being Hatley hosting Nettleton. The other games have Choctaw County traveling to Calhoun City, Noxubee County visiting Shannon, Houston heading to New Hope and Aberdeen hitting the road to South Pontotoc.
— Austin Bishop
CCHS ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT
Choctaw County Spotlight for Winona game
One bright spot for Choctaw County in its 42-14 loss to Winona was the punting of sophomore Trace Beard. He had punts of 39, 51, 43 and 37 yards and there were no return yards. He was also two for two on PATs.
“Trace is a big time punter,” said coach Jeff Roberts. “I think he's going to be a big time (place) kicker too.”
— Laurence Hilliard
FOUR REGION 2-1A SCHOOLS UNDEFEATED
There are now four Region 2-1A schools with 2-0, records, while the other five have yet to pick up a win. The 2-0 schools are: Noxapater, who beat Eupora 32-15; Smithville, a 33-25 victor over Hatley; West Lowndes, a 12-8 winner over McAdams; and Tupelo Christian, which rolled past Oak Hill Academy 53.-21.
The 0-2 schools are Nanih Waiya, Vardaman, French Camp, and Hamilton, while Okolona is 0-1. Other scores from last week saw NW fall to Union 35-24, FCA lose to Starkville Academy 23-0, Hamilton fall to J.Z. George 36-20; and Vardaman lost to Bruce 34-0.
This week’s games have Noxapater hosting Starkville Academy, Nanih Waiya visiting Choctaw Central in a game that has been moved from Thursday to Friday, French Camp traveling to Eupora, Smithville visiting Mantachie, Hamilton hosting Ethel, Vardaman traveling to East Webster, Okolona heading to Thrasher, West Lowndes hosts Kemper County, and Tupelo Christian hosting Biggersville.
— Austin Bishop
NEW STREAKER ON TAP
With West Point losing on Friday to Louisville 38-28, Greenville St. Joseph now has the state's longest active winning streak at 13 games. The Irish (2-0) are the two-time defending MAIS Class AA state champion and are now in Class 3A. The last loss for Greenville St. Joe was Week 2 of last year against Indianola Academy.
This is the second week in a row that the team with the state's longest active winning streak was snapped after West Point defeated Horn Lake 34-6 in Week 1. The defending 6A state champion Eagles had a 15-game winning streak.
— Brandon Shields
METRO JACKSON AREA DOMINATES TOP 10
The top three teams in Mississippi Gridiron’s Top 10 are very familiar with each other. Madison Central, who beat Brandon 28-14 last week, is at the top of the rankings followed by 2-0 Pearl and 1-1 Brandon.
Madison Central visits Northwest Rankin on Friday, while Pearl hosts Ridgeland and Brandon heads to Clinton. The rest of the top 10 are Starkville, South Paola, Petal, Picayune, Lafayette County, Oak Grove ,and Oxford.
Columbia is at the top of the Little 10, which is reserved for teams Class 3A or smaller. Columbia is followed by Taylorsville, Charleston, Noxubee County, Madison-Ridgeland Academy, Philadelphia, Seminary, Heritage Academy, Water Valley, and Houston.
Smithville leads Class 1A, followed by Noxapater, Lumberton, Nanih Waiya and Hollandale Simmons. Columbia is on top of 3A, followed by Noxubee County, Seminary, Water Valley and Houston.
— Austin Bishop
