No Tylan Carter. No Dicenzo Miller. No problem for Choctaw County.
Playing without Carter, the Chargers' starting quarterback, and Miller, the starting tailback, Choctaw County blanked Ripley 38-0, thanks to another outstanding defensive performance and an uber-talented freshman. It was a fifth straight win for the Chargers improving their record to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in Region 4-3A.
“I thought we started a little slow. Then we put our foot on the gas,” said CCHS head coach Jeff Roberts. “Defensively, when you hold a 4A school to zero points and you score two TDs, that's impressive.”
The defense not only pitched a shutout, it also contributed two touchdowns on interception returns.
Carter has missed the last two games with an ankle injury. Miller also missed the Ripley game.
“He was a little banged up so we gave him the week off to let him rest up.” Roberts said of Miller.
With Miller on the sidelines as a spectator, the bulk of the running chores fell to freshman Antonio Kennedy and boy did he respond – 21 carries for 286 yards and three touchdowns.
“There are so many words that can describe his performance,” Roberts said. “He doesn't play like a freshman He plays like an upper classman.”
Roberts gave much of the credit for Kennedy's success to the guys up front. “Our offensive line did a fantastic job blocking for him. He found the creases and had a couple of long runs.”
Kennedy had TD runs of 32 and 72 yards. Roberts said he was untouched on the 72-yarder, thanks to the hole opened by the the line. “I think we could have driven a truck through that one.”
Kennedy also had a short run for the Chargers' first TD, cornerback Tyson Coleman returned an interception 32 yards for a TD and linebacker Israel Whitmore had a 76-yard pick six.
Trace Beard did his part. He booted a 27-yard field goal and was five for five on PATs.
Ripley is 2-7.
Kendall Coleman stepped in at quarterback in a 24-12 win over Houston, but returned to his running back/receiver duties against Ripley. Sophomore Connor Jewell got his first start at quarterback, completing four passes for 95 yards.
“He did a good job managing the game,” Roberts said. “The stats might not show it, but he made a couple of good throws down the field to Ques (McNeal) and Preston Payne. He did what I needed him to do to get us through the game.”
After hosting region foe Noxubee County on Friday night Choctaw County will close out the regular season Nov. 1 with a region game at Hatley. The MHSAA 3A playoffs begin Nov. 8 with the top two teams in the region getting home games.
