Louisville upsets Noxubee County
By By Rocky Higginbotham/special to The Star
November 16, 2002
LOUISVILLE Noxubee County reached heights during the 2002 football season that no Tiger team will likely match for decades to come: A ranking as high as No. 3 in the state, a second-straight 10-win season and a pair of record-setting players.
But what the Tigers couldn't do is beat their oldest nemesis twice in the same season.
Because around these red clay hills, Louisville is still the king of football.
The homestanding Wildcats played keep-away from all-everything quarterback Omarr Conner and the Tigers, and Louisville beat Noxubee 21-20 in a Class 4A playoff thriller in front of more than 4,000 fans here at R.E. Hinze Stadium.
The win pushes the 8-4 Wildcats into the North State semifinals, where they'll take on another Region 2-4A rival, West Point. Noxubee and Conner ended their season with a 10-2 record for the second straight year.
Afterward, veteran Louisville head coach Tony Stanford quickly agreed that Friday night's one-point win over Noxubee was nearly the mirror-image of the Wildcats' 36-22 loss to the Tigers last month. The only difference? Louisville turned it over three times against Noxubee six weeks ago; but this time around, had no turnovers on a field that resembled a cattle pen.
Actually, neither team turned it over, despite running 107 plays between them.
That was definitely the plan for Louisville, which ground out 273 yards rushing on 64 carries. Brandon Dotson led that charge with 33 carries and 131 yards, while Derrell Ashford had 104 yards on 22 carries. Ashford had one touchdown run, as did quarterback Anthony Stanford. But the younger Stanford's 55-yard touchdown pass just one of two attempted by the Wildcats on the night may have made the difference.
Louisville went 50 yards on 14 plays on its opening drive, getting a 1-yard sneak and PAT by Stanford. Noxubee struck back with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Conner to Joey Sanders the state record-breaking 52nd touchdown accounted for this season by Conner. That made it 7-6 after one quarter.
The touchdown pass from Stanford to Rod Ingram came in the second, when Louisville used play action after 24 consecutive running plays. Ingram was 15 yards behind the nearest defender and went 55 yards for the score. Stanford's PAT made it 14-6 at the half.
Noxubee got a 5-yard touchdown run from Conner on a fourth-and-goal play midway through the third to pull within 14-12, failing for the second straight time to get a two-point conversion.
Louisville made it 21-12 with 8:30 left on a 18-yard burst by Ashford.
Three plays later, a scrambling Conner hit Lamarcus Windham on a 48-yard strike to put Noxubee in business. A big first-down pass to Sanders set up Conner's second scoring run, a 1-yarder with 6:38 left. He also hit Brandon Tate on the two-point conversion to make it 21-20.
Louisville took possession on its own 26 with 6:32 on the clock nursing a one-point lead, and Noxubee never got the ball back.
With the Tigers holding just one timeout, the Wildcats converted a fourth-and-inches play with 3 minutes remaining by about half the football.
Conner, who will probably hold no less than four state records when final-season statistics are tallied, finished with 55 yards and two touchdowns rushing and was 15-of-31 passing for 236 yards. Sanders caught six passes for 108 yards; Windham caught three for 75.
