Noxubee County beats Neshoba Central, 44-16

By By Rocky Higginbotham / special to The Star
Oct. 12, 2002
PHILADELPHIA Not often does a coach with a four-touchdown victory breath sighs of relief afterward.
But that's what Noxubee County's M.C. Miller did following his team's 44-16 win over homestanding Neshoba Central here at Rocket Stadium Friday night.
Neshoba, which is 0-7 overall and 0-3 in Region 2-4A, racked up 23 first downs with an effective grind-it-out offense that held the ball 80 plays and produced 325 yards. The Rockets' time of possession nearly tripled that of Noxubee, which had 17 first downs and 363 yards on just 42 plays.
But it was Noxubee which was able to put the ball in the end zone, scoring on six of its first eight possessions to improve to 6-1 and 3-0.
The 11th-ranked Tigers also took advantage of four turnovers and won despite being flagged 12 times for 112 yards.
Ironically, it was Noxubee's only turnover of the night that led to Neshoba's first points. On the first play from scrimmage, Dandy Dozen quarterback Omarr Conner threw an interception only his second of the year and Neshoba's William Adkins returned it 31 yards to the Noxubee 33. Kyle Vowell's field goal 10 plays later from 23 yards out put the Rockets up 3-0.
It was just about the last mistake Conner made all night. He accounted for five touchdowns, completing 12-of-21 passes for three TDs and running for 95 yards and two scores on just 11 carries.
His first touchdown was a 4-yard run at the 5:00 mark of the first quarter, and Conner also ran in the two-point conversion. That made it 8-3, and Noxubee never trailed again.
Neshoba drove to the Noxubee 4 on its next possession, only to fumble the ball away with the Tigers recovering on their own 6. On the very next play, Conner hit Joey Sanders across the middle for a 69-yard catch-and-run to give the Tigers a little breathing room.
Roberto Jordan took it in from 7 yards out for Noxubee's second score, with Conner hitting Lamarcus Windham on the two-point pass to make it 16-3.
Again, Neshoba put together an impressive drive, taking it 86 yards in a 14-play march that consumed nearly eight minutes. Andrew Robinson capped the march with a 1-yard touchdown run and Vowell's PAT made it 16-10 with just 1:44 left in the half.
But Noxubee needed only 33 seconds to answer. Conner rambled 12 yards, then hit Brandon Tate with a 22-yard pass that had a 15-yard personal foul tacked on to the end of the play. Conner then found Windham for a 16-yard TD pass, making it 22-10.
The Tigers also scored on their first three possessions of the second half, even though Neshoba held the ball from the second-half kickoff until the 2:49 mark.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Conner hit Sanders on a beautiful 38-yard touchdown catch for a 28-10 lead, then Conner found Tate on a 21-yard scoring strike. He hit Reggie Smith for the two-point conversion and a 36-10 lead.
Noxubee's final score came on a 17-yard run by Conner with 7:51 left, and he followed that up with a two-point pass to backup quarterback Deon Bryant. Miller emptied his bench and Conner found the field just once more when he punted for 47 yards.
Neshoba got back on the board with 5:20 left on a 15-yard touchdown run by Ricky Sorrell.
The Rockets got 101 yards on 20 carries by Andrew Robinson and 96 yards on 24 carries from Kevin Marshall.
Sanders' four catches for 124 yards led five Noxubee receivers.