Chargers hope good play continues against Tigers
What a difference a month makes. The Choctaw County Chargers were sitting at 1-3 overall at the back end of its non-conference schedule following three-straight losses to Winona, Calhoun City and East Webster. All three of those teams are contenders in its respective classifications, but head coach Jeff Roberts couldn't help but be frustrated how those games, especially the latter two, came out.
After those frustrating losses, things began to click for the Chargers.
Choctaw County handled Kosciusko and Clarksdale to end September and rolled Aberdeen to begin Class 3A, Region 4. The big win came on the road at Houston two weeks ago when the Chargers beat the Hilltoppers 24-12 despite having starting quarterback Tylan Carter on the bench with an injury.
With a 38-0 win at Ripley last week getting Choctaw County to 3-0 in Region 4 play, the Chargers have now gotten themselves into position to lock the district championship up tonight when they host the Noxubee County Tigers.
“They're definitely playing how I want them to,” Roberts said. “If we play hard, good things will happen and they're playing hard.”
What's next in Choctaw County's way is the biggest test of the season. With a title on the line, either the Chargers will walk off of Dale Davidson Field with that number one seed tonight or Noxubee County will.
The Tigers have been one of the state's best programs year in and year out for the last 15 years or so. They terrorized Class 4A for many seasons before the school moved down to Class 3A this season and into the Chargers' district.
Choctaw County gets a chance to go head to head with that team tonight as first year coach Teddy Young bring his 5-4 team to Ackerman for a special Thursday night showdown.
“It's a big game,” Roberts said. “They play probably one of the toughest schedules in the state of Mississippi. They've been through the adversity of the season, so we're excited about the opportunity and hoping to come out of there with a district title.”
The Chargers went into the last two games fairly banged up at the skilled positions. Carter is still mending back into full health and they need the talented quarterback as he's thrown for over 500 yards and eight touchdowns and run for another 911 and nine scores. They were without running back Dicenzo Miller Jr. last week against Ripley and his 748 yards and eight scores, but freshman Antonio Kennedy came in and ran 21 times for 268 yards and three touchdowns to earn the OCH Regional Medical Center Athlete of the Week honors.
The game previously scheduled for Friday was moved up to today in anticipation for wet weather coming through the area this weekend.
East Webster at Eupora
It might be the first time in several years that the Webster County Maroon Bowl isn't the featured game of the week for the Starkville Daily News coverage area, but it still is bound to be an exciting one when these two meet up tonight.
Last year, the Eagles came in as the heavy favorite in the annual rivalry game and left with a 7-6 loss. It was the fifth win in six seasons from East Webster in