Noxapater football coach Caleb Kelly said before the season started that he had stable of
running back who could all play.
That proved to be true on Friday night as Noxapater ran for 390 yards and took a 35-7 season-
opening win over Southeast Lauderdale.
Kelly said he was proud of how his team performed but said there is always room for
improvement.
“After last night, I feel good about our team,” Kelly said. “After watching the film, we still have a
lot to correct. But it is week one and there is going to be some things to correct after that first
week. But our kids went out there and completed job and came away with a big win. I thought
we ran the ball really well. The field conditions didn’t allow us to throw the all well, especially
early in the game so we had to lean on the run. They were giving us some gaps and I thought
our offensive line did a great job and that’s really what sealed the victory for us.”
Noxapater struck first as Logan Sanborn hit Ayden Harrington on a 53-yard touchdown pass.
Demarkus McCully ran in the two-point conversion and Noxapater led 8-0 late in the first
quarter.
Noxapater got the ball right back when J.J. Miller recovered a Southeast fumble. Six plays later,
Andrew Harrington scored on a 6-yard run. McCully ran in the two-point conversion and
Noxapater led 16-0, a score that lasted until halftime.
“We created some turnover and I was glad to see,” Kelly said. “We had two interceptions and a
fumble recovery. Three turnovers will help you win a lot of games. I thought overall, we played
well and we competed well. They had some big cramping issues and we didn’t and I thought
was big in the second half.”
The two teams swapped punts in the second half but Noxapater got the first break with an
Andrew Harrington interception.
After a big 47-yard run by JyKavius Riddle, the junior running back finished off the drive with a
2-yard run. The try for two failed and Noxapater led 22-0.
Southeast scored its only touchdown of the game on the ensuing possession on a 3-yard run to
cut the score to 22-7.
But Noxapater then scored on back-to-back possessions on a 3-yad run by Jytavius Riddle and a
48-yard run by Camarion Pankey. T.K. Wilson hit the PAT on the second TD for the final score of
35-7.
Noxapater had a big night on offense, rushing for 390 yards on 42 carries, an average of 9.3
yards a carry. The Tigers had 76 yards passing for 466 yards of total offense.
Sanborn was 6-of-14 passing for 76 yards with one TD while JyKavius Riddle had 152 yards
rushing on 17 carries. Ayden Harrington had 66 yards on four carries , including a 53-yard carry.
Demarkus McCully had 54 Carris on seven carries while Camerion Pankey had 47 yards on one
carry. Davion Holmes had 34yards on six carries while Andrew Harrington had 20 yards on four
carries.
On defense, Holmes and Vontavius Triplett each had nine tackles apiece while Andrew
Harrington, Zavion Harrington and J’Cameron Riley each had three tackles apiece.
Riddle and Andrew Harrington each had an interception while J.J. Miller had a fumble recovery.
This week’s game
The Tigers will hit the road this week as they take on highly regarded Kemper County.
The Wildcats are coming off an impressive 38-15 win over Class 4A Kosciusko.
“They are really good,” Kelly said. “They are going to be stout in the box. They have three
special players. We are going to have some good competition come in and it will make our kids
play their best and our coaches coach their best. That’s what you want before you play district.
We have four weeks to get there and just want to get better every week.”
Last year, Kemper County won 45-6.
